{"id":503819,"date":"2026-10-22T05:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T05:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/503819\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T05:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T05:36:12","slug":"san-jose-educator-tracy-nees-honored-as-san-francisco-49ers-teacher-of-the-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/503819\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose educator Tracy Nees honored as San Francisco 49ers teacher of the game"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — If there is one word to describe first-grade teacher Tracy Nees, it’s caring.<\/p>\n

“I just care. I care for who they are and I care about them as people,” explained Nees during a break in her classroom at John J. Montgomery Elementary School in San Jose.<\/p>\n

You can see the caring as soon as kids line up to enter her classroom. She moves her arms to offer either a fist bump, a high five or a hug.<\/p>\n

“She’s caring, compassionate, kind. She makes sure that she knows each student’s personality and she engages them on that level,” said principal Jamie Hammond.<\/p>\n

Nees didn’t always want to be a teacher. She started her career working in the Silicon Valley technology sector but became a stay-at-home mom when her daughter was born.<\/p>\n

As her daughter grew up, Nees began working as a teacher’s aide and when her daughter went off to college she decided to go back to school herself, even though she was in her 40s.<\/p>\n

Eventually, she earned a master’s degree in education at San Jose State and then started teaching first and second grade.<\/p>\n

“I have only one child and she went off to college- and why not have 20-24 kids every year that you can read to and teach math and teach how to read?” said Nees.<\/p>\n

MORE: Then and now: A look back at San Francisco 49ers’ 80-year history as fans celebrate team’s legacy<\/a><\/p>\n

Her thoughtfulness with students was recognized by the San Francisco 49ers as “Teacher of the Game” for the game against the Washington Commanders at Levi’s Stadium.<\/p>\n

“She really stood out to us as someone who goes above and beyond for her students, from holding a student’s hand across the street to honoring a student’s disposition and emotional well-being so they’re ready to learn,” said Sofy Navarro, director of Program, Impact and Strategy for the 49ers Foundation.<\/p>\n

The recognition made a huge impact on Nees, who is a lifelong 49ers fan.<\/p>\n

“When I got the email, it brought a tear to my eye because it was part of who I am, being a Niners fan,” said Nees, who choked up remembering going to games at Candlestick with her father.<\/p>\n

Top Stories<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nees was nominated for the honor by a former student and her family.<\/p>\n

“She has made a huge impact on our family,” said Jessica Martinez, whose daughter Aliyah Alves was in Nees’ classroom two years ago.<\/p>\n

MORE: Country superstars surprise 2024 ‘Music Teachers of Excellence’<\/a><\/p>\n

Even though Alves moved to higher grades, she still seeks Nees out whenever she needs support.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes when I need help and even though I’m not in the class, if she’s out in the playground, I’ll usually always go to her for help. I really miss being in her class,” said Alves.<\/p>\n

Nees enjoys learning along the way from her students.<\/p>\n

“I learn from them as much as they learn from me and as I get to know them, it’s like the world just becomes smaller and bigger at the same time.”<\/p>\n

\"Now<\/a>
<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — If there is one word to describe first-grade teacher Tracy Nees, it’s caring.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[194907,194905,194906,101,103,102,104,106,105,194903,194904],"class_list":["post-503819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-194907","tag-49ers-foundation","tag-can-i-become-a-teacher-if-i-dont-have-a-teaching-degree","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-switching-careers","tag-teacher-honored"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}