Kylie Altier is a first grade teacher at McKinley Elementary School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She earned a Bachelor of Science in early childhood education from Florida State University in 2013 and a Master of Elementary Education from Stephen F. Austin University in 2019. She believes that all deserve to go to a school where they feel immensely loved and have learning tailored to their individual needs and passions.

Altier has won more than $18,000 in grants to enrich her students’ educational experiences. Using these funds, she built a garden complete with a mobile kitchen, incorporated a curriculum employing virtual reality headsets to boost experiential learning and designed a soon-to-be outdoor classroom for her school. She brings experts into her classroom, which has given her students opportunities to interview a New York Times bestselling author, perfect 10-scoring collegiate gymnasts, curators from the Museum of Natural Science and more!

Altier also received many accolades for her efforts while teaching in Texas, including being named Teacher of the Year for her school, district and region in 2019 and the Mentor Teacher of the Year in 2019. She has been a leader at every campus she has been a part of, starting an extracurricular garden club, co-founding an after-school reading program where high schoolers mentored emerging readers, spearheading campuswide reading intervention and leading professional development.

When she isn’t teaching, you can catch Altier cheering on Louisiana State University sports teams with her husband and children.