It is with tremendous sadness that the MIDTESOL Board wishes to inform you of the passing of our dear friend and fellow MIDTESOL Board member Zachary Smith.
Zach was an energetic and enthusiastic supporter of MIDTESOL and a tireless advocate for his students. An important member of our team, Zach served on the MIDTESOL Board in many different roles over the last decade: Member-at-Large for Iowa, Exhibitor Coordinator, Vice President, President, and Past President, with service on various committees as need arose. At the time of his passing, he had just been elected as Rules and Resolutions Committee Chair.
Zach had the idea for MIDTESOL’s newest award, the “Friends of MIDTESOL Award,” awarded for the first time at the 2024 MIDTESOL Conference to long-time MIDTESOL partner (and conference exhibitor) Maryanne Sennett of Townsend Press. In Zach’s honor, the MIDTESOL Executive Board has voted to rename this award the “Zachary Smith Friends of MIDTESOL Award.” We hope in this way to be able to preserve the legacy of Zach’s service to our organization and to all English teachers in our region.
From Zach’s own words in his biography notes on the MIDTESOL Website:
“Zachary Smith earned degrees from Drake University in Public Relations and Secondary English education with additional endorsements in K-12 ELL, 5-12 religion and 7-12 journalism. He is currently an English teacher at Meredith Middle School, which is a part of the Des Moines School District. Previously, Zachary’s teaching experiences have included Cedar Rapids Community School District, Kirkwood Community College, Ottumwa School District, Ivy Collegiate Academy (Taichung, Taiwan – Republic of China), and Chengde Medical University (Chengde, Hebei Provence, People’s Republic of China). His interests outside teaching include traveling to any place with interesting religious and cultural history, trying new and exotic foods, and reading anything written by Bill Bryson or Haruki Murakami.”
We will miss you greatly, Zach!
Official obituary: https://www.doughertyfuneralduluth.com/obituaries/zachary-smith
