By Randy Kirby
Managing editor
Third grade teacher Brittany Dillon was named La Monte R-4′s Outstanding Educator of the Year for 2012-1013 on Friday morning at a special all-school assembly held Friday morning.
“I’m very honored, I mean all the teachers here are very deserving of this award because everybody works so hard here, and we’re really like a family,” Dillon said moments after receiving her award.
“And if I need help, if I ask for something, everybody’s there (for me), we all just help out,” Dillon noted.
She found out about her nomination for the award last week, but didn’t know she’d won until Friday morning at the assembly.
“This is my fourth year of teaching here (at La Monte),” Dillon said. “When I was going to college, I worked at Melita (Day Nursery Child Development Center) for two years. I graduated from Central Methodist on State Fair’s campus.”
Dillon was one of three nominees for the title. Ken Storla and Kim Schlomer were the other two nominated for the honor by the 36-member La Monte CTA (Community Teachers’ Association). All certified educators who are both members of the CTA and the Missouri State Teachers’ Association (MSTA) are eligible for the award, explained Miranda White, sixth grade teacher and La Monte CTA president. White presented each recipient with a plaque and certificate, while La Monte R-4 Music Educator and Band Leader Tabitha Lazenby presented both winners with a flowering potted plant.
The school band also played as students entered the gymnasium where the announcements took place.
Jan Magnuson was named La Monte R-4′s Outstanding Associate Educator of the Year. This is Magnuson’s 12th year in education.
“I worked in elementary for five years doing computers and working with Title One, now I’m a rewrite tutor, and I work with fourth grade all the way through seniors,” she stated.
She said she has thoroughly enjoyed working with students at La Monte for the past 12 years. “Some of them need hugs every once in a while, so you’ve got to do that,” Magnuson said of her daily duties.
Magnuson has a husband who is stationed at Whiteman AFB, and a daughter who attends Green Ridge School.
Matt Eckley was the other nominee named for the award.
The announcements were preceded by a humorous skit that illustrated what teachers endure on a daily basis in the classroom. Photos by Randy Kirby, Sedalia News Journal.
