By Greg Rediske
On Friday, April 12, Kim Prentice of the Lakewood Rotary Club awarded two outstanding teachers with the Educator of the Month Award. From the Steilacoom School District, kindergarten teacher Wendy Heying from Chloe Clark was praised by Principal Gary Yoho, for her “dedication and determined attitude to help Chloe Clark kindergartners get a positive start to being students. She is simply an outstanding kindergarten teacher! It is a pleasure watching Wendy work with the youngest students: she is kind, thoughtful, and really very rigorous when it comes to academics. Wendy brings out the very best in each of her students. Watching her work with five-year-olds seems like some sort of miracle! She is the BEST!”
The Educator of the Month for the Clover Park School District was Jamie Rottle, the band and choir teacher at Lochburn Middle School. The participation in the band program has increased dramatically and now there is a waiting list of students interested in joining the program.
For two consecutive years she has taken a small group of students to the Mountain Music Region Solo and Ensemble Contest in Bethel School District. Both years Lochburn students have received Superior and Excellent scores from the judges for their performances. The students learned extra music and dedicated time outside of class to prepare their solo and ensemble performances. Lochburn Middle School principal Helen Wilson says, “Not only is Jamie an exceptional instructional leader in the classroom, she offers her students lifelong learning experiences beyond classroom walls.”
Lakewood Rotary was founded in 1956, and has contributed more than $3 Million to the local and international communities, especially to children’s needs. For more information: www.lakewoodrotary.com