Education Department Hosts Indiana Teacher of the Year

Tara Cocanower, the 2023 Indiana Teacher of the Year, visited Taylor University on February 6. She spoke to students about impactful teaching, sharing the gospel, and teacher resiliency in two sessions as well as a meet-and-greet lunch hosted by the Education Department.

A teacher at Bluffton High School in Bluffton, Indiana, Cocanower travels throughout the state empowering teachers, advocating for the profession and for students, and sharing her passion for social studies literacy.

Cocanower is also the head girls’ golf coach, assistant track and field coach, high school co-technology coordinator, high ability coordinator, and history department team leader. She teaches AP World History, World History, and Principles of Teaching.

She's been teaching for 16 years, including two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Romania. She is married to her husband Geoff, a youth pastor, and together they lead a youth ministry for high school and college students.