Christina Andrade Melly, an English teacher at Ritenour High School in the Ritenour School District in St. Louis, Mo., was recently named the 2023 Missouri teacher of the year. She was selected by a committee of her peers and education partners across the state. Melly joins 53 other Missouri educators named to the list since the award's creation in 1957.

Melly graduated from Mizzou in Dec. 2010 with a double major in English and secondary education and a multicultural certificate. She will be honored during Missouri's Teacher of the Year recognition event in Jefferson City on Monday, Oct. 17 hosted by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She'll be joined by the other finalists, semi-finalists, and Regional Teachers of the Year.