Knoxville High School math teacher Matt Heston is a top ten finalist in his group for the “America’s Favorite Teacher” contest.

Heston is currently in first place for voting in his group with top five voting ongoing until March 27th. Heston’s group started with 90 teachers. Group finals voting will then begin on March 27th with a wildcard round, quarterfinals, semifinals, and final voting to follow with the grand prize winner being announced on May 31st. Heston has a profile for the contest in which he says he wanted to become a teacher because of his eighth grade math teacher Mr. Moore. Heston states his most memorable teaching experience is seeing his students go into education and be successful and that it is fulfilling to see them take strategies they learned from him and use them in their own classrooms.

The winner of the America’s Favorite Teacher contest will receive $25,000, a feature in Readers Digest, a trip to Hawaii and a school assembly with Bill Nye. To vote for Heston or to read more about him on his profile, find a link here