August 21, 2021

Lee’s Summit CARES will be holding a Business of Character Kick Off Event on Friday, Sep. 10 from 7 to 8:45 a.m. The event will take place at Bridge Space located at 210 SW Market Street in Lee’s Summit and feature guest speaker Matt Good, Lee’s Summit School District Teacher of the Year and recently announced semifinalist for Missouri Teacher of the Year.

Come out to enjoy an inspirational morning that will include networking, door prizes, raffle prizes, a 50/50 Raffle and breakfast served from Neighborhood Cafe.

All businesses are welcome to attend. Visit lscares.org for more information and to register.

Matt Good, the LSR7 2021 Teacher of the Year, earned recognition as a Kansas City Regional Teacher of the Year.

The University of Missouri – Kansas City Regional Professional Development Center chose the Lee’s Summit West High School debate teacher as one of six honorees for Missouri State Teacher of the Year through the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

A 21-year veteran of teaching, Good has served in LSR7 for nine years, teaching Debate, English Language Arts, French, Communications and Competitive Dramatics. Building relationships to empower students’ success is the foundation of his teaching philosophy.

“Students know they belong to the debate family and that they are uniquely important to me as their teacher,” Good says. “This focus on relationship does much of the hard work for building rigor. When students feel valued, they are willing to take academic and social risks because they are comfortable in my classroom.”

Good received the 2017 Excellence In Teaching and the 2021 Teacher of Distinction awards from LSR7 and the Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce, the 2012 Outstanding Speech/Debate/Theatre Educator for the State of Missouri through the National Federation of State High School Associations, the 2015 Wayne Brown Outstanding Teacher Award from the Speech and Theatre Association of Missouri and the 2020 Ralph E. Carey Award for Career Service from the National Speech and Debate Association, and he is a 4 Diamond Coach in the National Speech and Debate Association.