Kentlake High School’s American Sign Language teacher Kathy Underhill has been selected 2013 Teacher of the Year by the Covington Chamber of Commerce.Underhill is a regionally recognized expert in the sign language field and holds a degree in Sign Language Interpreting. She is responsible for creating Kentlake’s annual ASL Music Project, a concert of contemporary music in sign language.

“The ASL Music Project is a model of performance art,” said Kentlake Principal Joe Potts in a Kent School District press release. “Kathy serves as a brilliant example of a first-rate educational professional.”

The Covington Chamber of Commerce selects the Teacher of the Year for the impact they make in their school and in the lives of their students. The Chamber recognized Underhill at the chamber’s monthly membership luncheon on Feb. 13.

“Kathy is driven by her passion for her students,” superintendent Dr. Edward Lee Vargas said in the release. “This kind of recognition is meaningful to us as a District as well as to Kathy’s students, who reap life-long rewards from her endeavors.”