Out of 77 school districts across the 12-county education service area of Region 12, Academy ISD’s Arlene Sefcik has been named the 2025 Region 12 Secondary Teacher of the Year and regional nominee for Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year. Sefcik was named Academy ISD’s Secondary Teacher of the Year in May and moved forward to the regional level, where she was selected to represent Region 12 by a committee of area teachers.
“Region 12 is blessed to have outstanding teachers serving throughout the region,” said Kenny Berry, Executive Director of Education Service Center Region 12. “We are thrilled to congratulate Ms. Arlene Sefcik for being named Region 12’s Secondary Teacher of the Year. Her unwavering commitment to teaching and promoting agricultural science has made a significant impact on her students and community.”
Sefcik has taught agricultural science at Academy High School since 2018 and serves as the school's Future Farmers of America Advisor. She has been in education for a total of 12 years, previously teaching agricultural science for five years in Magnolia ISD and one year in Bryan ISD.
“Arlene Sefcik is an exceptional educator, truly deserving of this prestigious recognition,” said Darla Nolen, Superintendent of Academy ISD. “As a teacher-leader in our CTE Department, she consistently provides her students with opportunities to connect their learning to real-world applications. It is inspiring to see how her classes bring together students from various backgrounds to share in their educational journeys. Academy ISD is immensely proud of Mrs. Sefcik for this well-deserved honor.”
Sefcik works with 9th through 12th-grade students in agricultural pathways, including plant and animal sciences. Floral courses are where her true passion and expertise shine through. In these classes, Sefcik aims to encourage student growth by creating opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience, step out of their comfort zones and begin networking.
One unit Sefcik is particularly proud of takes students and turns them into wedding coordinators and florists. Named Wedding Wars, this unit divides students into groups and gives them a random budget to work with to put together the perfect wedding for their client. Students are responsible for every detail, from creating a business portfolio to presenting a vision to clients and community members. This unit teaches students not only floral skills but also problem-solving, communication, collaboration and other skills that are useful beyond the walls of Sefcik’s advanced floral design class.
Along with giving students hands-on experiences, Sefcik’s courses bring together different student groups to create a culture of collaboration and partnership. Her students work with other career and technical education courses, like the culinary arts department during Wedding Wars, where they select a menu and table setting together. They also work together with groups outside of CTE. One partnership Sefcik looks forward to continuing is the partnership between her third-year floral classes and the life skills program on campus. These groups work together at multiple points in the school year, like in spring when they create floral arrangements. In this unit, the floral design students set up a workshop-style classroom where they play the role of teacher. The class creates a lesson plan, builds a model arrangement and schedules with the coordinator of the life skills program. Once the planning phase is complete, Sefcik’s class guides students from the life skills program through successfully creating a floral arrangement. This project introduces students in the life skills program to the world of floral design and allows floral students to build relationships and see the importance of an inclusive environment.
For Sefcik, relationship building is not limited to the walls of Academy High School. Community involvement is a key component in her classroom instruction and teaching philosophy. Sefcik looks for ways to connect students to the community around them in the hopes that students may develop interests in being civil servants or active members of the community. She does this by giving her students the opportunity to run and operate a small-scale floral shop called Bumblebee Blooms. Students order and process flowers, fulfill subscription and event orders, work on a community engagement project and even go into the community to drive more subscription sign-ups. Through these activities, students get more hands-on experience and build a professional network to carry forward past high school.
Outside of the opportunities she creates and her work within the agricultural sciences department, Sefcik is also a member of the Teacher Leadership Committee at Academy ISD. As a member of the committee, Sefcik works closely with the Academy High School administrative team and the district administrative team. Her position allows her to aid open communication in the district, discuss daily classroom challenges and advocate for her fellow teachers. In her role, she has been able to help design the new Academy High School, offer insight on fall and spring semester finals schedules and mentor first-generation graduates. Committing time to bettering the district has helped Sefcik hone her leadership skills as she works toward building her legacy in the community.
Sefcik earned her Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Agriculture from Sam Houston State University and has Agricultural Science (6-12), Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (EC-12) and Art (6-12) certifications. She is also a member of the Agriculture Teachers Association of Texas and The Texas State Florists’ Association. Sefcik received the Teacher Media Award from the Agriculture Teachers Association of Texas in 2017.
ESC Region 12 and Texas Farm Bureau Insurance, the Region 12 Educators of the Year program sponsor, will recognize Sefcik and other regional educators of the year in the coming months. The Texas Teacher of the Year process facilitated by the Texas Association of School Administrators will continue in August when a panel of judges meets to review the secondary teacher of the year regional nominees from all 20 education service areas in Texas. Three finalists will move on to interview with a panel of judges in September or October, after which TASA will announce the Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year.