Master’s Program Alumna Receives ‘Outstanding Teacher of the Year' Honor

Stephanie Bellot-Donaldson MAT ’16 is the recipient of the 2024 Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award from the Kentucky World Language Association (KWLA).

The award recognizes a language teacher who has demonstrated long-term achievement and service within the teaching profession.

Bellot-Donaldson teaches third-grade Spanish immersion classes at Hawthorne Elementary School in Louisville, Kentucky. The KWLA credited her for having an integral role in developing the Spanish immersion curriculum at the school and creating resources that are assessable to diverse learners. Bellot-Donaldson was also described as “a tireless advocate for her multilingual students” and someone who “exemplifies what it means to be an outstanding educator.”

After studying corporate communications and political science at the University of Kentucky, Bellot-Donaldson turned her focus to education, receiving her Master of Arts in Teaching from Dominican with a certificate in bilingual education.

“I am a first-generation American and passionate about teaching and language learning,” she said. “Being named Kentucky’s World Language Association Teacher of the Year would not be possible without the journey I began at Dominican.”

Bellot-Donaldson is now a candidate for the Teacher of the Year Award from the Southern Conference on Language Teaching. She will represent Kentucky at the March 2025 conference.