In second grade, Gretchen Cruden watched pepper scatter across a sink full of water after her mother coated her fingers in soap and touched the surface.

In awe, she whispered, “It’s magic.”

Her mother quickly corrected her: “No, it’s science.”

That small moment of wonder stayed with her.

It sparked an early interest in science, led her to Eastern Washington University, where she earned Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees simultaneously, and later led her to continue deepening her knowledge through a certificate in neuroeducation from Johns Hopkins University. After beginning her teaching career in Westport, Cruden eventually made her way to northeast Washington, where she now lives in Kettle Falls, is the mother of five children and serves as a middle school teacher and building principal at Orient School.

Cruden has been named the 2027 Regional Teacher of the Year for Northeast Washington, representing NEWESD 101 in the statewide Washington Educator Awards program.

At Orient, Cruden teaches grades 6-8 in a small rural K-8 school where relationships often stretch across years, subjects and generations. Her students learn English language arts, math, science, social studies, health, leadership, research and a variety of electives, giving Cruden the rare opportunity to watch them grow over time and across disciplines. Her nomination described her as a teacher who does not simply teach content but teaches students how to think.

For Cruden, that thinking is intentional. She uses logic, Socratic questioning, oral arguments and deductive reasoning to help students make sense of the world around them. She also believes students need to see themselves in their learning.

“Rural students shouldn’t have to leave their ruralness at the door,” she said.

That belief shows up throughout her classroom. Students grow seedlings while applying biology, math, English and marketing skills. They explore science through hands-on projects, including salmon education, fire ecology and agriculture. They complete three to four independent projects each year, often presenting them to real audiences and connecting their learning to the people and places they know best.

Her students also learn that their futures are not far away or out of reach. They meet community members, hear from local professionals and see real-life examples in the people who “wander into the building.” Cruden wants them to know their lives are worthy now, not someday.

Much of her work is also shaped by the realities of teaching in a rural, high-poverty, high-stress environment. In communities where mental health supports can be limited and even online counseling may be affected by lack of internet access, Cruden saw a need for something deeper. That led her to create Room 180, a trauma-informed social-emotional learning novel and curriculum that blends reading, writing, neuroscience and self-regulation.

The curriculum uses story to help students safely explore real-life challenges, including stress, family instability, anxiety and learning differences, while also building academic skills. Students analyze characters, track conflict and growth, write reflections and learn how the brain responds when a person feels overwhelmed. Through those lessons, they begin to name their own responses, practice strategies for calming their bodies and minds and better understand how their thoughts, emotions and choices are connected.

“Regulation is never separate from academics,” she said. When cortisol takes over, memory and learning are affected. Students need strategies for self-regulation before rigorous academic work can take root.

As both teacher and principal, Cruden sees the micro moments of student growth as well as the larger systems that support families, staff and curriculum. In a school with just three teachers and 36 students, she has supported families, led professional development and helped shape decisions that reach far beyond her own classroom. One year, she was transporting all five of her own children and a paraeducator to school, about 15% of Orient’s enrollment.

Her approach is built on warmth and structure, care and accountability. She tells new teachers to build trust first, but not to confuse trust with being liked. Learn the community. Learn the families. Listen. Be intentional.

Being named Regional Teacher of the Year is meaningful to Cruden because it recognizes more than one educator. It recognizes the strength of small schools, rural communities and the years of relationships built with students and families. It also gives her a platform to talk about what matters most to her in education: social-emotional learning, relationships, rigor and investment in rural students.

Small schools, she said, are facing many of the same social issues as larger schools. Their students deserve access to rigorous, future-facing opportunities and the same level of investment as anyone else.

Cruden hopes her students remember that growth is always possible.

Or, in her words: “I believed they could grow and eventually, they believed it too.”

Overseen by the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Regional Teacher of the Year program recognizes the exceptional work of public school educators. Winners are selected by a committee based on nominations from peers, supervisors, students and parents received by a regional coordinator at each of the state’s nine educational service districts.

Regional honorees participate in yearlong professional learning, leadership and advocacy opportunities and meet with state and national education leaders. State honorees are selected from among the regional recipients and advance as Washington’s nominees for the corresponding national awards.

This year’s Teacher of the Year and Classified School Employee of the Year honorees will be celebrated Saturday, Oct. 10, from 10:30 a.m.-noon at the Capital High School Performing Arts Center in Olympia. The ceremony will also be livestreamed for those who would like to watch from across the state.