Tory Houser initially thought she was either a victim of a prank or a fraud when she was called and told she had been selected as the 2026 Southeast Alaska Champion for Kids by the Alaska Children’s Trust.

She received the award at the Champions for Kids event at the Sealaska Heritage Center in Juneau on Feb. 3.

“When I got the call I didn’t believe it at first,” she said. “When I realized it was real, I was stunned. I had a different kind of anxiety then.”

Alaska Children’s Trust President Trevor Storrs said her reaction told him everything he needed to know.

“When she told me she wasn’t a champion — that she’s just a person who likes to help — I said, ‘That’s why you’re a champion.’”

The nomination process for the award is open to the public, and someone nominated Houser — unbeknownst to her.

Storrs said the award recognizes everyday people who give their time and effort to help children in any capacity. It was decided that Houser more than met that criteria.

“The more we learned about Tory, the more it became clear that she was the one,” Storrs said. “And there were at least 10 other nominees just from Southeast alone.”

In addition to the work and outreach she does with children professionally through the U.S. Forest Service, where she heads up the Wrangell District, she also coached the high school swim team and teaches ballet through a Parks and Recreation program. She also spends her time and attention being devoted to her two sons: Ben, 18, and Peter, 15.

“I’m just so grateful to have the support of the families and the community to be able to have the opportunity to help and work with the children,” Houser said.

Her work with children in her career really caught the notice of Storrs. Through her work with the Teaching Through Technology (T3) initiative, she discovered the power of a “growth mindset,” a philosophy that has since become the cornerstone of her educational ideas.

Wrangell students in the T3 program worked with the Forest Service last year to install upgraded video cameras at the Anan Wildlife Observatory so that people around the world could watch the bears feast on salmon returning to Anan Creek every summer.

Houser defines professional success not through traditional metrics, but through the resilience of the students — celebrating their ability to pivot and progress after setbacks. A staunch advocate for STEM education, she champions a classroom environment that balances rigorous experimentation with genuine play, aiming to foster a lifelong curiosity in every child she mentors.

“She has just been doing so much to integrate her work and her personal time with her devotion to helping kids. She really is that unsung hero that should be noticed for her dedication,” Storrs said. “She really does go above and beyond. … Today she is a champion and she always will be a champion.”