Warsaw Community High School English teacher Joe Conlon is a finalist for Indiana Teacher of the Year honors.

Conlon and nine others were announced as the top Hoosier educators yesterday by the Indiana Department of Education. The Indiana Teacher of the Year will be chosen from this group.

Teachers from more than 300 districts submitted a portfolio including a series of essays; samples of teaching; lesson plans; and letters of recommendation from colleagues, students and former students. The Indiana Department of Education selected the 10 best teachers based on these portfolios.

Conlon said he spent most of the summer working on his portfolio. He said he was honored when Warsaw chose him as Teacher of the Year, and he wanted to be able to say he had given it his best shot. "Since they cared enough to nominate me, I wanted to do my best to make Warsaw look good," he said.

Preparing his portfolio was a learning experience for Conlon. "All the work involved in the package made me really stop and think about what I do," he said.

Conlon begin teaching in 1970 in the U.S. Marine Corps. He became a ninth-grade English teacher at Warsaw in 1977, and has also taught classical literature, technical writing, Shakespeare and honors English.

Conlon is named in the 1996-97 "Who's Who of American Teachers" and was a state runner-up for the Christa McAuliffe Fellowship.

The top 10 teachers will go to Indianapolis Sept. 10 for a series of interviews with the Teacher of the Year selection committee.

The Indiana Teacher of the Year will be announced at a banquet Nov. 6. [[In-content Ad]]