Teachers get appreciation from students

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

There are lots of programs each year that honor area students for their hard work and dedication. Not many programs, though, honor teachers who go above and beyond for their students. One such program, sponsored by the Van Wert City Endowment Fund for Educators, held its 18th annual banquet Thursday evening at Willow Bend Country Club.

Retired school psychologist Randy Gardner, who was, himself, inspired by three teachers — his grandfather, Ralph Gallapoo, Glen Livingston and Gil Smith — created a format in which students to honor their favorite teachers with an essay telling them how they have made a difference in their lives.

Thursday’s edition of the banquet featured tears and laughter as the six VWHS students with the top grade point average (this year, all 4.0s) and another five students selected at random by a committee read their essays to their favorite teacher.

The six top students and their favorite teachers included Caleb Markward/Deb Chiles, Joey Hurless/Bob Spath, Melissa Bono/Kathy Fleming, Sarah Aurand/Bob Sloan, Alex Bair/Mary Kramer and Nik Wolford/Bob Priest.

There was one precedent set on Thursday, as senior Colten Royer, one of the five chosen at random, selected his mother, first grade teacher Sarah Royer, as his favorite teacher.

Two other rare occurrences included Kylie Allenbaugh reading her essay to teacher Tiffany Werts over the phone, since Werts was out of town chaperoning the eighth grade trip to Washington, D.C. (done once before) and senior Scott Turner chose a non-teacher, guidance office secretary Lynette Westgerdes, for his essay subject. That also happened in 2004 when now-retired custodian Dave Horine was honored.

“Education is not an easy road, but can be a very rewarding one,” Gardner said, who introduced the five seniors chosen at random, which included Royer, Allenbaugh, Turner, Maggie Allmandinger, who honored teacher Roland Alvarez, and Jessica Klausing, who chose Pam Morris as her favorite teacher.

While most of the teachers had their students in class, that wasn’t the case for Allenbaugh, who was inspired by Alvarez, a special education teacher, during conversations she had with him during study hall.

Some of the students credited their teachers with helping them find a career path, such as Klausing, who said Morris helped her decide on a career in medicine, while Wolford, who will be attending the U.S. Military Academy at West Point this fall, credited high school social studies teacher Priest with helping him choose a military career.

In Turner’s case, he was amazed by the amount of help and caring he received from Westgerdes during his college search process — even though he was just one of many students she assists during a typical school year.

The qualities of a teacher that students find outstanding vary, from humor to kindness, from providing guidance in life skills to a loving attitude, but all of the students’ essays have one thing in common: their favorite teacher (or person, in Westgerdes’ case), all gave students one-on-one attention. They took a personal interest in the students’ lives and inspired them in some way.

The banquet, VWHS Principal Bill Clifton said, is one of his favorite events of the year. “This is an awesome evening every spring,” Clifton noted. “I know the teachers that were honored, as well as the teachers in the audience, appreciate knowing that other people appreciate what they do each year for their students.”

In addition to the student essays, VWCS Superintendent Ken Amstutz also honored a number of this year’s 16 retiring teachers able to attend the banquet with a replica of a school bell. Those included Jeannie Ditmeyer, Christine Heizman, Nancy Wolverton, Ed Clark, Dave Cramer, and Cindy and Steve Thomas. Arlene Hurless, who retired a few years ago, but was not recognized then, was also presented with a bell this year.

In addition to Gardner, sponsors for this year included Edd and Tavie Buhl, Tim Stoller of Stoller Wealth Management, The Van Wert County Foundation, Van Wert Federal Savings Bank and the Van Wert Service Club.