PRESS RELEASE – Evergreen Elementary School art teacher Danett Setmire has been nominated for National Life Group’s 2025-26 LifeChanger of the Year Award.
National Life Group’s LifeChanger of the Year recognizes and rewards the very best K-12 educators and school district employees across the United States who are making a difference in the lives of students by exemplifying excellence, positive influence, and leadership.
Setmire was nominated anonymously for celebrating creativity over perfection, encouraging risk-taking, and making space for student voices.
Her art room is a positive environment with clear rules, structured routines, and organized materials. Students are expected to follow directions, be respectful, and complete their work.
To create an exceptional environment, Setmire goes beyond the basics by building relationships, greeting each child by name, and displaying their work with pride.
She offers choices in materials or projects to spark ownership and joy, and she creates a calming, welcoming space that inspires imagination.
As a NWOEA (Northwestern Ohio Education Association) Promising Leader Award and Teacher of the Year recipient, Setmire’s teaching style is certainly being recognized.
Setmire recently completed a graduate course through The Art of Education University that focused on innovation through the design process, which sparked her interest in creating a MakerSpace for her students.
This space is designed to encourage hands-on, creative exploration, allowing students to experiment, build, and solve problems in meaningful ways.
Setmire has already begun gathering materials like LEGOs, beads, pipe cleaners, and wooden blocks, and she’s seen how engaging and beneficial this environment can be.
Setmire is now hoping to expand the MakerSpace with child-safe cardboard cutting tools and adhesives, so students can further explore design and construction with versatile materials like cardboard.
“Ms. Setmire creates an atmosphere where students feel seen, safe, and excited to create, making the art room a place where they truly thrive,” said the nominator.