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Posted: Apr 23, 2026 7:03 PMUpdated: Apr 23, 2026 7:04 PM

Heather Tate Named BPS Teacher of the Year

Nathan Thompson

Ranch Heights Elementary teacher Heather Tate is the 2025-2026 Bartlesville Public Schools Teacher of the Year, which was announced at the Bruins of the Year Celebration Thursday evening at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium.

Tate teaches in the district's Academic Therapeutic Learning Alternative Setting program, also known as ATLAS. The program pulls students from the school district's six elementary schools who are having difficulty succeeding in the traditional classroom because of trauma or behavioral concerns. The ATLAS program is staffed by Bartlesville Public School employees and professionals from Grand Mental Health.

"That program is near and dear to my heart. Those kids and those families are very special to me," Tate said. "To be honored in this way is a great privilege."

Tate has been with the school district since August 2010. She is a former president of the Bartlesville Education Association, helping educators through the teacher walkout of 2018. Tate also received the 2020 Kate Frank Award from the Oklahoma Education Association.

She says to be named the district's teacher of the year and to go on to represent Bartlesville in the Oklahoma Teacher of the Year program is an honor.

"I work for an amazing district and with so many incredible teachers," Tate said. "It's an honor to represent them, and that's what this truly is. I hope it's a representation of all the amazing teachers in our district."

Several other Bartlesville Public Schools personnel were honored Thursday.

Jane Phillips Elementary's Ruth Brown was named the district's Rising Star Teacher, a special honor for teachers who have less than five years of instructing students.

Dora Keyser from Wilson Elementary was named the district's Classified Person of the Year, Bartlesville High School's Sara Diveley was named the secondary schools' Rookie of the Year and Wayside Elementary's Jessica Abbe was named the elementary schools' Rookie of the Year.

Wilson Elementary Kindergarten teacher Angie Brown received the Kurt Schmoldt Teacher Appreciation Award and Wilson Elementary First Grade teacher Kealy Chapman received the honorary title of "Fan Favorite" at the Bruins of the Year ceremony, winning a free breakfast from Chick-fil-A for her school's staff.

Jay Wenzel received the Bartlesville Education Association's Friends of Education Award for her assistance in bringing the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to the school district.

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