Memorable moment: Receiving a three-line fax from New Jersey announcing that Bingham won the national championship in boys cross country

What he'll do with the money: He'll probably take people important in his department and education out to dinner. He may also spoil his two dogs with treats and toys.

Tireless is how one colleague describes him, a nurturer is another name. But whatever the label, Jeff Arbogast is no ordinary teacher.

In his 26th year of teaching - every minute of which has been spent at Bingham High in South Jordan - he is both a nationally recognized coach and a favorite of parents who know he has made a difference with their children.

"You don't have to be the best runner on the team to have that one-on-one experience with him," said Julie Davis, the mother of a student on Arbogast's track team.

The track and cross country coach and English teacher values academics as much as running, Davis said, motivating their son to excel in both.

Between coaching and teaching, he's at school for about a 12-hour stretch. Arbogast's day starts at the high school around 4 a.m. when he catches up on work and grades papers. Practice begins a little after 5 a.m. Then the kids come to his room to eat breakfast. Without any children of his own, Arbogast said he thinks of his students at Bingham as his.

"Those kids, watching them athletically and academically become what they can be, it's tremendous," the teacher said. "That's what it's all been about."

He's not only excelled on the track, but developed a performance psychology curriculum that helps students work through athletic and other issues.

For someone who dreamed of being a fighter pilot as a little boy, he believes teaching was where he was meant to land. Arbogast has perhaps a dozen former students who became both English teachers and track coaches like their mentor.

"In my 32 years in education he might be the single most outstanding educator I have ever been around," said Brad Bevan, another Bingham teacher.

- Julia Lyon