News

The North Central Educational Service District (NCESD) is proud to announce that Madonna Carlton of Lake Chelan School District has been named the 2026 Regional Teacher of the Year for North Central Washington. Carlton will advance for consideration at the state level through the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. State honorees will be announced in September.

Carlton was selected by a regional committee for her inspiring advocacy for students with moderate to severe disabilities and their families. With 20 years of experience in Special Education, she is currently a LifeSkills teacher at Morgen Owings Elementary School.

Living in a rural community, Carlton has watched families struggle to find resources for their children with disabilities, fueling her continued advocacy to help bring resources to her community. As a special education teacher, she has helped those most impacted by disabilities find ways to be successful adults.

Carlton was nominated for this recognition by a colleague for her dedication to her students, passion for learning, team leadership, and advocacy for families. “The students are thriving under Madonna’s thoughtful, inclusive, individualized, and joyful program,” the nominator shared.

One of this year’s standout lessons from Carlton was a unit on swimming and water safety designed specifically for her LifeSkills students. Recognizing that drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for children with Autism—and that many of her students live near open water—she created a multi-week program to build both awareness and skills. Partnering with a local ADA-accessible pool and a volunteer lifeguard, Carlton and her team of support staff taught students how to recognize water dangers, request to swim using their individual communication methods, and safely perform the dog paddle and back float. With added support from the school’s Occupational Therapist, students also experienced water-based therapy.

LifeSkills Teacher
Morgen Owings Elementary Lake Chelan School District

“I love the challenge of creating and adapting lessons to meet the unique learning needs of my students,” Carlton shared. “Teaching in this small rural community has led me to believe that when education is approached collaboratively, all individuals can be contributing members of their community.”

Carlton’s experiences as a member of various district leadership teams have helped her understand the importance of educating the “whole child” by being trauma-informed and providing collaborative educational environments conducive to social and emotional learning, as well as academic growth.

Recently, Carlton has partnered with external programs such as the University of Washington Autism Center and the local Moving All to Success and Health (MASH) program affiliated with the NCESD. Engaging with these resources taught Carlton valuable skills and gave her additional confidence to assist in providing the most effective whole-child treatment plan to children with complex needs. Additional partners Carlton works with include the Division of Disability Administration (DDA), Child Protective Services (CPS), Family Preservation Services (FPS), and local agencies such as Thrive.

“Bringing in outside services allows families to connect with resources beyond the school,” Carlton shared. “The complexity of social services can be overwhelming and intimidating, so bringing these agencies together early on is very important.”

In addition to her classroom work, Carlton is a strong advocate for improved access to special education services and increased funding for rural districts. Her two decades of experience have shown her the challenges families and educators face when resources are limited, particularly in smaller communities.

“I am passionately dedicated to advocating for children with complex needs,” Carlton said. “Inequitable access to resources makes public education in smaller, more rural districts very challenging. With the growing demands of those qualifying for special education, many of the most beneficial educational tools are not readily available in our smaller communities, leaving educators to piece together programming.”

She believes that meaningful change will require bold leadership and sustained commitment from policymakers. “The added burden on general education teachers and students due to underfunding means that oftentimes, there is no classroom support available,” she added. “There is an urgent need for stakeholders to create policies and find funding for early therapies as a way to support families and school districts in the education of children with disabilities.”

Carlton’s work reflects a deep commitment not only to her students, but to the systems and communities that support them. Her dedication to inclusive education, collaboration, and advocacy continues to create lasting impact for families in the Lake Chelan Valley. As the 2026 North Central Regional Teacher of the Year, Carlton exemplifies the power of compassionate teaching and the vital role educators play in shaping a more equitable future for all students.

About OSPI Teacher of the Year and Classified School Employee of the Year Program

Since 1963, the Washington State Teacher of the Year program has selected one outstanding educator annually to serve as the Washington State Teacher of the Year. The Teacher of the Year is selected from a slate of up to nine regional candidates representing Washington’s nine Educational Service Districts. Washington began naming Classified School Employees of the Year in 2010 and follows the same process.

Anyone can nominate someone for Teacher or Classified School Employee of the Year. Nominees complete a written application and enter the regional selection process. Each region recommends a regional finalist to the state program. The State Teacher and Classified School Employee of the Year are selected from among these regional finalists by a committee made up of diverse educators, families, students and education stakeholders.

Learn more on the OSPI website

About North Central Educational Service District

The North Central Educational Service District provides a wide array of programs, services and support to the 29 public school districts in the North Central Washington region of Chelan, Douglas, Grant and Okanogan county. The service district provides professional and timely tools to meet the needs of individual schools and districts, and a reliable point of education-related information for the communities served. The NCESD is one of nine respected educational service districts in Washington state.