From graduate to educator: Viewmont's Carly Maloney named Utah's 2024 Teacher of the Year

If there is one thing to know about Carly Maloney, it's that she is extremely passionate about teaching. Her passion earned her Utah's Teacher of the Year award for 2024.

If there is one thing to know about Carly Maloney, it's that she is extremely passionate about teaching. Her passion earned her Utah's Teacher of the Year award for 2024. (Davis School District)


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SALT LAKE CITY — A sign on the wall of Carly Maloney's classroom reads, "Grow through what you go through." This is her motto as she teaches her students, from advanced placement psychology to English as a second language.

Maloney, a teacher at Viewmont High School in Bountiful, was recently awarded Utah's 2024 Teacher of the Year by the Utah State Board of Education.

"Our 2024 Utah Teacher of the Year, Carly Maloney, and the two runners-up, Maxwell Eddington and Stephanie Parish, are excellent teachers due to their unwavering passion for teaching, their commitment to student success and their unique and innovative teaching methods," said Ryan Bartlett, the director of strategic communication for Utah State Board of Education. Bartlett was part of the committee that selected the Maloney, Eddington and Parish as finalists.

Maloney teaches concurrent enrollment English, advanced placement psychology, student government, and English language development.

From the moment she is in view, her passion for education is obvious. She loves being a teacher, helping her students and working with her fellow educators.

"I don't think it's about the content for me. I think it's about connecting with students and helping them to feel like they belong, helping them to feel like they have a safe place and helping them through those connections to feel like they're capable," Maloney said.

Maloney has been teaching for 10 years, all at Viewmont — the same school from which she graduated in 2010.

She was first awarded Davis School District's Teacher of the Year honor before being nominated for the award for the state of Utah. "I was honestly so honored when I won at the district level, because there are so many incredible teachers in my building. There are so many incredible teachers in the school district and across the state of Utah. There are so many deserving people for this. I'm continually humbled and honored by the opportunity," Maloney said.

There are three main things Maloney is "incredibly passionate about": "Advocating for multilingual learners and students of all backgrounds, abilities and levels," mental health "not just for students, but for teachers as well," and teacher leadership, meaning teachers who are leading their classroom in different ways.

Maloney is piloting a new English language development program at Davis School District, where multilingual students come together to learn to be proficient in the English language. Students in the program speak Pashto, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, Cantonese and Samoan. In the program, students are pen pals with first graders at nearby Taylor Elementary School, allowing both groups to work on perfecting their language skills.

"I've also learned it's so important to have books and curriculum that meet students where they are," Maloney said. She has been reading books with her multilingual students about refugees and first-generation college students, experiences her students are familiar with.

Maloney said she doesn't want to go anywhere else, careerwise, other than her current classroom, which she said she wouldn't be in without the support of her past teachers and administrators — some of whom are still her colleagues today.


It's about connecting with students and helping them to feel like they belong, helping them to feel like they have a safe place and helping them through those connections to feel like they're capable.

– Carly Maloney, Viewmont High teacher


While she has kids in her classroom, she has three young kids of her own and a husband who supports her in all she does, which she is grateful for.

In all, Maloney believes that growing through what we go through is the best guide for life. She encourages her students to read books about grit and growth, and recommends F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" to anyone and everyone, along with "Inside Out and Back Again" by Thanhha Lai and "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer.

"I feel like (these books) reach people of a lot of different backgrounds and get the idea across that we can do hard things," Maloney said.

Maloney was presented a check for $10,000, along with the award, and will be competing with other state teachers of the year in a national competition in San Diego, happening in February 2024.

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Utah K-12 educationUtahEducationDavis County
Kaigan Mears Bigler is a general assignment news reporter for KSL.com.

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