Newton upper elementary art teacher Julie Saugstad recently was honored as one of 80 educators from across Iowa to receive an Excellence in Education Award.

The Excellence in Education Award program is a partnership between the Iowa State Education Association, the state’s largest teacher’s union, and the Iowa Farm Bureau, WHO-AM radio and KDSM-TV. Saugstad teaches art to students in grades 4-6 at Aurora Heights and Woodrow Wilson elementaries in Newton.

Saugstad developed the annual fifth grade art and sculpture tour with Thomas Jefferson elementary art instructor Christy Humpal. Through the program, students get to see Newton’s public art collection, which rivals many larger cities’ collections, up close.