July 3, 2021

Matt Good, Lee’s Summit R-7 School District’s 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 the award, which highlights excellence in teaching and honors classroom teachers throughout the state. With the award, Mr. Good is now qualified to apply for Missouri State Teacher of the Year through the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

A 21-year veteran of teaching, Mr. Good has served in LSR7 for nine years, teaching Debate and Advanced 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,” Mr. 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 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.