The 2018 IBEA Secondary Teacher of the Year is Mr. Josh Ebbert. He has been teaching business classes in the Peoria area for 13 years, the past two at Limestone Community High School in Bartonville. Currently, he teaches Basic Accounting, Orientation to Business, Marketing, and Sports and Entertainment Marketing. He also has taught keyboarding, computer applications, consumer education, and business law. Josh considers his current position to be his dream job as he is teaching at his alma mater, and he always had the goal to teach there. One colleague wrote that “I’ve taught with many people over my 30+ year career, and Josh is right up there among the best.”

L to R: Josh Ebbert and Christie Hovey, 2017-18 IBEA President

Josh has served on the IBEA Board of Directors for four years, the last three serving as Membership Development Chair. Also, he serves as President of the Peoria Area Business Education Association.

Both of Josh’s parents were teachers, and he decided to enter the teaching profession after getting his Bachelor’s in business management from Eastern Illinois University and completing an internship in Human Resources at Six Flags Great America. In the internship he interacted with a lot of high school students; and after speaking to a class about job interviews, he decided that teaching business classes is what he wanted to do. Thus, in 2005 he went to Illinois State University and received his degree in Business Education. He’s been teaching ever since.

One student wrote that “I've had Mr. Ebbert for two years out of the four I have been here. He is a very outgoing teacher and definitely cares about the kids in his classroom. He always makes sure you do your work, and he always provides help when needed. . . . He is very passionate about his job and always has a smile on his face.”

Josh also worked for 13 summers for the Peoria Chiefs minor league baseball team. In his limited spare time, Josh enjoys spending time with family, especially his wife Moriah, daughter Waverly, and son Wesley.