Hopkins Foundation flying squad leaves checks, smiles in its wake
By Bobbi Mlynar
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Jami Dakin, kindergarten teacher at Village School, and Christine Allen, home-involvement coordinator at William Allen White School, received awards Tuesday afternoon from the E.L. and Z. Irene Hopkins Foundation, near the end of a day-long distribution of $27,000 to teachers and staff in the Emporia School District.
Dakin received a $2,500 Star Performer award; Allen received a $1,000 WOW award.
The annual distributions were done in all-school assemblies, where Foundation representatives surprised recipients with oversized checks that showed the amounts they would receive later in private.
Michelle Hopkins-Molinaro, secretary and manager of the Foundation, presented the awards, assisted by her father, Kenneth Hopkins; the foundation attorney, Tom Krueger; and other members of the Hopkins family.
A total of 93 teachers and district staff now have received awards from the Hopkins Foundation. According to information from the Emporia school district, the total amount is $206,000.
Star awards were presented to teachers “who are innovative, put students ahead of themselves, are caring, inspirational, have a record of student achievement, and go above and beyond the call of duty to make a difference for children.”
Winners of the $5,000 Star Performer awards were: Carla Fessler, student support specialist, Logan Avenue; Barbara Clark, physical education teacher, Emporia Middle School; and Sherry Nelson, PE teacher, Emporia High School.
Dakin and Sunnin Keosybounheuang, health teacher at EMS, each received a $2,500 Star Performer award.
Janell Neer, special education reading coach for the Flint Hills Special Education Cooperative, and Matt Holopirek, physical education teacher at EMS, each received $1,000 Star Performer Awards.
In addition to Allen, WOW awards, which bring $1,000 to each recipient, went to Arnold Chavez, security guard at EMS; Ted Keisler, head custodian at EHS; Donna Russell, teacher aide at Walnut School; and Julie Smith, head of the bakery for the food service department.
The WOW awards were for support staff members “who consistently go above and beyond the call of duty to make a difference for students.”
Stebbins (anonymous) says...
Can the home page photo for this story appear with a caption and be linked to the story?
May 7, 2009 at 8:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )