The District’s top education officials surprised a teacher in her elementary school this week, anointing her the city’s 2019 Teacher of the Year while students filled the cafeteria.

Kelly Harper, a third-grade teacher at Amidon-Bowen Elementary in Southwest Washington, received a $7,500 prize Monday and will be considered for the National Teacher of the Year award.

"We are proud to have so many talented and passionate teachers educating and inspiring our students, and, today, we are excited to recognize and celebrate Ms. Harper for all she has done for her students, her school, and our community,” Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said in a statement. "Great teachers change lives, and we know that Ms. Harper is working hard to set her students, families, and colleagues up for success. Every day, Ms. Harper is changing lives in Washington, DC.”

Harper, a native Washingtonian, has been teaching for seven years. Her first years as a teacher were in Houston. She moved back to the District in 2014 to be a third-grade teacher at Amidon-Bowen — where a majority of students come from low-income families.

Harper also trains other teachers in the school system. City leaders noted that Amidon-Bowen made gains in the math and English portions of a national standardized test this year.

"In her many roles at Amidon-Bowen Elementary, Kelly Harper has provided caring support for her students and her colleagues throughout the District. It is with the leadership and engagement of teachers like Ms. Harper that we will continue to recruit and retain great and talented teachers at schools across the District,” Hanseul Kang, Washington’s superintendent of education, said in a statement.

Teachers in traditional public and charter schools are nominated for the honor each year. Once nominated, they are required to fill out an application. Harper said in her application that she believes education can fight social injustice and help combat the school-to-prison pipeline.

"As a DC area native, I teach to empower my students to become the next leaders and change-agents of their generation,” Harper wrote in her application. "Ultimately, I envision my students becoming voices for marginalized communities, voices that reverberate throughout the city and the world.”

Harper received $1,500 to cover the cost of travel to national conferences and to professional development opportunities during her Teacher of the Year term.

Karen Lee, a 12th-grade social studies teacher at Thurgood Marshall Academy, a charter school in Southeast, was runner-up. Caity Schneeman, a high school theater teacher at KIPP DC College Preparatory charter high school in Northeast, and Jennifer Leehey Coyne, a preschool teacher at Seaton Elementary School in Northwest, were named finalists for the honor.