The Florence Rotary Club recognized three Boone County educators with Teacher of the Year honors during the group’s weekly meeting at the Airport Hilton in Florence Monday.
Florence Rotary president Pam Goetting of Heritage Bank said Teacher of the Year recipients exemplify the organization’s motto of “Service Above Self.”
“The Teacher of the Year program is one of the highlights of the Rotary year,” Goetting said. “There are so many wonderful educators, it’s so hard to narrow it down to a few. We had some really outstanding folks this year who gave back to their schools, not only with what they do every day, but with supporting family and friends out in the community.”
The Florence Rotary recognizes one teacher from each level of education through nominations that are submitted by members of the community.
Rotarian Julia Pile introduced Chad Caddell of Stephens Elementary who has been teaching since 1997 and is in his fifth year as the school’s drama teacher.
Caddell developed the school’s mentoring program, helps direct the drama club, started and led the strong fathers initiative and participates in a leadership role in the school’s parents and family engagement endeavors.
“Chad is a regular speaker at conferences, churches and retreats and enjoys serving in the children’s ministry of his church, teaching and leading the creative program,” Pile said. “On a personal note, the Rotary’s motto is service above self, and I don’t know anybody who displays that motto more than Chad.”
Caddell said it was a tremendous honor and privilege to be recognized by the organization.
“This award means so much because of what Rotary stands for,” Caddell said. “Kids who are loved at home, come to school to learn; kids that aren’t come to school to be loved. I feel like what we get to do today is such a privilege because we get the opportunity to be game-changers in the lives of those kids.”
Rotarian Paul Krieg of Northern Kentucky University presented Julia Hansel of Conner Middle School with her teacher of the year award.
Hansel has been a science teacher for 27 of her 28 years in education and is also a grant writer.
Krieg said Hansel inspires her students and encourages them to work with her to help the homeless at facilities such as the City Gospel Mission. She works with students after classes, is active on the schools archery team and has been involved in several project at Conner and in collaboration with other schools.
“In the classroom Julie respects each student and takes the time to answer individual questions,” Krieg said. “She puts the responsibility back on students. She doesn’t want her students to sit at the desk all day.”
Hansel said the credit for her award goes to the Boone County Schools.
“If you have a great idea, they let you go with it and they even have some great ideas of their own,” she said. “I have great colleagues that are very flexible because we have a bizarre schedule. The thanks really goes to the administration, the students and the staff I get to work with.”
Goetting presented Michelle David of Randall K. Cooper High School with her award. David is a library media specialist and has spent three of her eight years as a teacher at Cooper.
David was nominated by several people included one who praised her passion for others, the desire to help children to grow intellectually and emotionally and a willingness to lead.
She has transformed the library into a true media center that includes Makerspace, a tutoring center, a dedicated area for teachers and large screen televisions that air news programs. She has set up a twitter account and the school’s robotics room includes a 3-D printer, audio and video recording with a greenscreen and a video editing lab.
“This really is going to be cutting-edge technology for our kids as they go forward,” Goetting said. “She has created a hangout and the students actually want to go to the library and participate in programs there.”
David said it’s great to have the opportunity to do something that she loves every day.
“I open the library early at 7 a.m. and I have 100 kids in there every morning,” David said. “They come in to work, they come in to print papers (or) they come in to hang out with their friends. I was so excited when I had the ability to leave the classroom and come down to the library.”
Boone County Schools Superintendent Randy Poe, who is also a Rotarian, said it is a source of pride to see the achievement of the teachers recognized every year.
“In Boone County we have awesome educators and these are some of the best of the best,” Poe said. “We’re very proud of them and each of the activities that they participate in representing their schools.”