When the Foundation presents its teacher awards during the EGRPS Opening Day celebration each August, the excitement is truly amazing. Other teachers cheer, applaud, and scream as the recipients are announced and come to the stage of the Performing Arts Center to receive their awards.
This year’s Excellence in Teaching Award recipients were Breton Downs Elementary reading specialist Andrea Dudley at the elementary level and EGRHS science teacher Heather Carlson at the secondary level. Lakeside Elementary first grade teacher Kailey Faris was honored with the James and Georgia Nicholas Endowed Award for a Teacher of Math, Science, or Technology.
“We’re fortunate to have so many outstanding teachers that it’s always difficult to single any out for these awards,” says EGRSF Board of Directors President Amy Knape, who presented the awards along with EGRSF Executive Director Amy Stuursma. “That makes this honor even more special for the teachers we recognized.”
The Excellence in Teaching awards begin another remarkable year for the Foundation. This school year, thanks to its donors, the Foundation is prepared to provide more than $700,000 for our students and schools in the form of program support, classroom grants, professional development, and teacher and student scholarships. It’s the largest donation the Foundation has ever made from its endowment in a single school year.
In students’ time in East Grand Rapids Public Schools from kindergarten through graduation, the Foundation will contribute more than $6 million to their education.
“The teachers who received these awards exemplify how the district, the Foundation, and our community are making our schools even better together,” Knape says.
You can nominate teachers for the Foundation’s awards on our website anytime during the school year up until May 1.
