Westwood High School science teacher Chris Mihealsick has been named 2025 Texas Teacher of the Year.
Chosen from more than 384,000 teachers, Mihealsick will now represent the state in the National Teacher of the Year program. The honor was announced at an Oct. 25 luncheon that also celebrated 40 regional elementary and secondary Teacher of the Year winners.
As she accepted the award, Mihealsick said she’s proud of the work she and her fellow public school teachers do throughout the state.
“We teach everyone who comes through our doors to the very best of our ability and we see firsthand the energy and potential that the kids of Texas have,” she said. “I’m so incredibly humbled and grateful for this.”
Mihealsick was named Region 13’s Teacher of the Year in July and Round Rock ISD’s Secondary Teacher of the Year in May.
“There is no one more deserving of this recognition than Chris,” said Westwood High School Principal Erin Campbell. “She is a fierce advocate for kids, educators and public education. Her impact is immense, and she makes a difference in so many lives. It is an honor to have her leadership at Westwood High School.”
Mihealsick has been an educator for 23 years, and has spent 17 of those years serving the Westwood community.
“My students are why I do what I do. Their energy, their curiosity, their enthusiasm and their teenage passion for life is what keeps me going day after day, trying to support their dreams.”
She will now advance to the National Teacher of the Year program, whose winner is announced by the President of the United States next spring during a Rose Garden ceremony.
If chosen as National Teacher of the Year, Mihealsick would take a yearlong sabbatical from classroom instruction and serve as an ambassador for the teaching profession.
“Education is not often an easy job, but everybody in this room has a deep and abiding passion for kids. I will do my very, very best to represent the very, very best of you in public education.”
