By default, Carina Ponce is the best foreign language teacher for Kingfisher Public Schools.

By merit, she’s proven to be one of the best in the state.

A Spanish teacher at Kingfisher for nearly a decade, Ponce was recently named the 202425 Oklahoma Foreign Language Teachers Association Teacher of the Year.

The award allows Ponce to represent Oklahoma at the Southwest Conference on Language Teaching (SWCOLT) in Chandler, Ariz., in January 2025.

There, Ponce will compete for the title of Regional Language Teacher of the Year.

She’ll participate in an interview and compete against seven other teachers of the year from Arizona, Hawaii, Texas, California, Colorado, Nevada and Utah.

The winner of the SWCOLT competition will then advance to represent the conference at the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTF) conference in November 2025, where that person will be a candidate for the National Teacher of the Year award.

Ponce is in her 12th year with KPS and ninth year teaching Spanish.

She’s the only foreign language teacher in the district, which part of what led her to OFLTA.

“I sought support through the Oklahoma Foreign Language Teachers Association, where I’ve been an active member for years,” Ponce said. “This organization comprises educators teaching a range of languages, including Spanish, French, Latin, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian, etc. It spans from middle school to college levels throughout Oklahoma.”

She said she was “surprised” to receive a nomination for the OFLTA honor by an anonymous colleague from the organization.

Once she was nominated, Ponce was selected from other nominations by the OFLTA board.

She was presented with the award at the OFLTA Fall Conference Sept. 28 at the University of Central Oklahoma, which is also her alma mater.

“To know her is to love her and we’re very fortunate to have her here,” said KHS Principal John Harris in recognizing Ponce for her honor at a recent board of education meeting.