Extraordinary Educator 2024 - MNA/BCRP

Extraordinary Educators

June 22, 2024

Sp o nso re d by:

Thank yo u to all of o u r amazing sp o nso rs t h is pa s t year! A HUGE THANK YOU TO E V ERYONE WHO VOTED FOR THE FOLLOWING TE ACHERS! WE ARE V LOOK ING FORWARD TO CONTINUING THE PROGR AM FOR THE 2024-2025 SCHOOL YE AR.

Sp o nso re d by:

Jim Leach Mechanical

SPOTLIGHT EDUCATOR

Amber Ruth embracing KND’s ‘small school, big family’ mantra

By Kyle Kotecki Staff Writer

Having just wrapped up her third year teaching at Brethren High School, teacher

Amber Ruth said it didn’t take long for it to feel like home.

“I feel really fortunate to be teaching at (Kaleva Norman Dickson Schools),” Ruth said.

“’Small school, big family’ is not just a slogan — it really is kind of how this community works. It’s just really nice to be a part of that.”

And the district certainly appreciates having Ruth. She was nominated for the Manistee News Advocate and Benzie County Record Patriot’s Extraordinary Educators program, which is designed to

highlight the positive aspects and great work local educators are doing on a daily basis.

“(She is) an absolutely amazing teacher,” reads Ruth’s nomination.

“She always shows support to her students and is a wonderful person to be around.”

Ruth has been teaching French and English for 10 years.

“I always wanted to be a teacher, and I always thought that I would teach English,” she said. “Then I took more classes of French when I was in college and I absolutely loved it, so I switched my focus to both of them — French and English.”

After graduating from Linden High School, Ruth obtained her bachelor’s and

master’s degrees from Oakland University.

“I lived downstate pretty much my whole life and taught in a couple of Detroit-area schools,” she said. “Then we decided to make a family move, so my husband and I moved up here three years ago and we’ve been here ever since.”

Superintendent Jake Veith said the district is “extremely lucky” to have Ruth on the staff.

“Her passion and expertise inspires students and we are thankful that she has designed a foreign language program where students are not only learning the language, but the culture, as well,” Veith said.

Ruth said her family keeps her busy when she’s off the

clock.

“I have a 2-yearold, so I deal with her — hang out with her a lot. I walk my dog,” she said. “I hang out with my husband — we fish. I like to read and just kind of hang out at the house.”

Ruth said teaching is “really rewarding.”

“I like to experience all the different kinds of students and figure out the best ways to get them engaged and involved,” she said. “I just enjoy working with high schoolers and kids and just having that experience of watching them grow over not only the school year, but over the whole course of their high school careers.”

SPOTLIGHT EDUCATOR

Cindy Lundberg brings holistic teaching, a sense of community to students

By Arielle Breen Assistant Editor

Jefferson Elementary School kindergarten teacher Cindy Lundberg has brought her career full circle.

“It was one of those things where all my life, I was like ‘Gosh, I want to have a passion, something I’m really passionate about,’” she recalled as she was striving to find her niche. “I felt like ‘gosh I’m really missing out. People are all passionate about something, where’s mine?’

“And then I entered the classroom. I found it,” she said.

Lundberg started out teaching kindergarten 24 years ago, and she adored it.

“Kindergarten is my sweet spot. I just love the littles, I just love them,” she said. “I want to make sure every one of my kids has got a foundation in literacy, a foundation in math concepts because if it’s not there, they are going to have a hard time.”

But on the advice from her superintendent, she branched out.

“He must have saw something in me that I didn’t see in me,” she recalled, adding that she didn’t want to leave her classroom. “He started talking to me about the impact you can have is greater and broader when you can help support teachers get better at their craft and then you make a

bigger impact on all of the kids.”

Lundberg took the leap of faith and took on a list of other roles.

Along the way she learned vital pieces from those other positions in administration and has shared that knowledge with her peers in education.

“I came here with a teaching credential from California, but I was also in many different roles out there,” she said. “I was an instructional coach, I was also a new teacher mentor, and then in addition to that I got my admin credential and my master’s. I was also assistant principal at a middle school and I ran their RTI (Response to Instruction) program for the district.”

Lundberg was recently nominated as a Manistee News Advocate and Benzie County Record Patriot Extraordinary Educator, which highlights the positive aspects and work local educators are doing daily throughout the 2023-24 school year.

One person who nominated Lundberg as an Extraordinary Educator said in part, “She understands more than anything, the concept of creating a caring community in her classroom, and offers her students the chance to grow and to be given care every day.”

Back in the classroom

In 2018, Lundberg started teaching kindergarten at Jefferson Elementary School and has been in that role ever since.

“This gets me back to the classroom,” she said of resuming kindergarten teaching. “I truly believe that if you’re in education, the closer you are to the children, the closer you are to what we really do.”

That means teaching with a holistic and connected view of the student.

“I think that an educator — regardless of what your role is — should never be too far or ever want to be too far from the students,” Lundberg said.

While she is glad to offer insight and experiences with Jefferson Elementary School from her California days, she notes that she is also “humble and gracious” because she is learning here as well.

Collaboration

Lundberg said her goal in life is to “spread and share the good stuff,” the great aspects of education and to always be learning.

Every classroom brings a unique experience for Lundberg who says individual students influence each particular school year.

“You may be in a job

for 24 years, but it is different every single year. It’s a whole new environment,” Lundberg said.

Lundberg highlights collaborations as a paramount piece of that environment in helping students and school systems.

“I truly believe that educators are better together. We all have a different way of interpreting a lesson, delivering a lesson and then checking for how successful the lesson was. We all have different way of looking at it,” Lundberg said.

Then when each person shares their experiences with the lesson, what data is showing them, “each one of us learns and grows from that.”

She said Manistee Area Public Schools Intermediate School District recently started exploring professional learning communities.

“Basically, what that is all about is collaborating: collaborating with your team, looking at essential standards, curriculum, assessments and are they aligned and do they meet the needs of our children,” she said. “It’s super powerful.”

Now that summer break has started, Lundberg plans to take time, decompress, enjoy the beach, outdoor concerts and family time before coming back in the fall to think about what bar she is going to raise next.

Cindy Lundberg

Je erson Elementary School

SPOTLIGHT EDUCATOR

Anna Luxford has a heartfelt approach to childhood education

By Scott Fraley Staff writer

If asked how many children Anna Luxford has, she says “21” because she has one of her own and 20 others in her classroom at Frankfort Elementary School.

“I’ve got a big heart for a lot of kiddos,” Luxford said.

Luxford was recently nominated as was nominated for the Manistee News Advocate and Benzie County Record Patriot’s Extraordinary Educators program, reflecting her commitment and hard work in the field of teaching.

Luxford expressed her gratitude for the nomination.

“It’s a great honor. Teaching is hard work, and it’s really nice to be recognized for the effort we all put in,” said Luxford.

One person who nominated Luxford described her as “kind, intelligent, nurturing, patient and fun.”

Luxford has been a teacher and mentor for young students for 12 years, starting her career in Colorado before moving to northern Michigan.

“I have been in northern Michigan my whole life. I graduated from Grand Valley (State University) and then decided to move to Colorado and taught out there for about (eight)

years,” she said.

Her return to Michigan occurred just before the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting some additional challenges to her teaching experience.

From a young age, Luxford was inspired to become an educator due to the influence of her second-grade teacher.

“When I moved to my school when I was in second grade, she was very nurturing and just made me feel at home and sometimes when you switch schools it can cause a lot of fear and anxiety and so I always wanted to be that person for kids,” Luxford said.

This nurturing approach has led Luxford through several jobs working with children, and has become a hallmark in her own classroom.

“I was a camp counselor. I was babysitting. I always involved kids in my life growing up,” she said.

“Any opportunity I had to be with kids, I took that opportunity and tried to be that one person that could make a difference in their life.”

Luxford described her relationship-based teaching strategy as a key first step in managing her classroom.

“From the first day of school, I find out their likes, I find out their dislikes and create that connection with them,” she said. “Once I have that connection with them, then they (start to)

respect me as their friend and they listen to what I have to say and trust me.”

This approach, she said, fosters a respectful and cooperative atmosphere in her classroom.

“Really what causes my classroom to have that sense of community is because we all respect each other and we all cherish the differences we have,” she said. “So from day one we always start getting to know each other, playing games, laughing together and making those memories.”

Luxford’s advice for the parents of young children emphasizes patience and a willingness to let kids be themselves.

“They bring so many great things into our life, so much laughter,” Luxford said. “Even though they might have their little quirks … It’s OK. It’s OK if they come to school not wearing the perfect outfit. It’s OK if they come to school wearing a costume or their pajamas. It’s important for us to let kids be kids.”

One of the aspects Luxford enjoys most about teaching kindergarten is the play-based learning environment. She emphasized the importance of making education enjoyable at an early age to instill a lifelong love for learning.

As the school year comes to an end, Luxford finds saying “goodbye” to

her students challenging. For Luxford, resilience and dedication are some of the most important traits required in teaching.

“Teaching is really, really hard, and it’s a profession that you can easily get burnt out on,” she said. “I think as long as you put kids first, then that’s all that really matters, even in those tough times — just knowing that you’re making a difference in those kid’s lives.”

When searching for daily motivation, Luxford thinks of the bond she has with her students.

“Just seeing the kids come in, in the morning with smiles on their faces, giving me their hugs … and I think a huge motivator is just making all kids feel loved and successful in this classroom,” she said. “And when you see their confidence grow, having them feel proud of themselves, that’s what gets you through those hard times teaching.

“You’re never short of hugs in our classroom.”

SPOTLIGHT EDUCATOR

Eric Joslin inspires students with music at Frankfort

By Colin Merry Staff Writer

Eric Joslin’s love of music is why he’s teaching students of all ages how to express themselves through it at Frankfort-Elberta Area Schools.

Joslin teaches elementary music for students in kindergarten through fifth grade, as well as beginning band for fifth graders. He also is the band director for the fifth through eighth grade students and at the high school.

He was recently nominated for the Benzie County Record Patriot and Manistee News Advocate’s Extraordinary Educators special section, which highlights the positive aspects and work local educators are doing daily throughout the 2023-24 school year.

Joslin started teaching music at Frankfort in the 201819 school year, but has been teaching music for 30 years.

He started his career as a music teacher and band director in White Cloud for eight years before moving on to direct a bigger band program in Standish. He taught there for six years before winding up in Muskegon, where he taught for 10 years.

Joslin said he had the opportunity to apply

to be director of music in Muskegon, but he passed on the chance.

“I realized what I wanted was to teach kids music and discover a love of music and the joy of making music and having music in their life,” he said. “I didn’t need to be the one who was a figurehead of the program; I just wanted to be working with kids and helping them. I wanted to help them discover the love of music I’ve had all my life.”

It was then that he got the chance to teach in Frankfort.

Joslin said he’d been coming to the Frankfort area since working at White Cloud when he had friends and family who owned property at Lower Herring Lake.

“I told my friends if they ever see the band director job at Frankfort open up to let me know,” he said. “Years later, I ended up getting the job here.”

Joslin said he’s always loved music.

“My mother and I traveled and we would sing all the time,” he said. “I was surrounded by music all the time from as early as I could remember and my mother was a teacher.”

Joslin said he didn’t know he wanted to be a teacher until he had the opportunity to be involved in some

drug and alcohol education programs for elementary students as a junior in high school.

“I got to work with them, we were doing puppet shows and singing songs about peer pressure,” he said.

“Through that, I went to a clinic and a man there said the secret to be happy all your live is find a way to make a living at what you enjoy. You’ll be happier making less doing what you love than hating what you do and making a lot of money.”

Joslin said that was when he realized he loved music, working with children and teaching.

He said even if he had chosen another profession, he would have become a teacher in some capacity.

“I found a way to turn two things I know I love to do into a career, and it has been wonderful,” he said. “The places I’ve been, the people I’ve met — I wouldn’t have done that if music hadn’t been a part of my life.”

Joslin said music can enrich lives, even if people don’t necessarily have a career in it.

“It gives you that way to connect with people, a way to belong to something,” he said. “It gives you those opportunities you might not get otherwise.”

Joslin said he tries to support his students’ endeavors outside of music as well.

“I help out with scoring at basketball games, I’ll help out with running the scoreboard for volleyball,” he said. “I was involved in the middle school committee that put together the middle school school.”

Joslin said the arts and music are very important for students to have.

“It enriches their lives and gives them an opportunity,” he said. “There’s a lot of focus on social and emotional learning, and I look at that and think, ‘That’s just music.’ It is being exposed to your feelings. When you’re faced with them in your everyday life you are familiar with them. They’re not so overwhelming.”

Outside of teaching music, Joslin said he plays in the local band Barefoot at local venues and loves to volunteer at the Garden Theater in Frankfort. He said he also likes to be physically active by hiking, biking, playing tennis and golf and just being outside.

“I like to get outside where it is quiet,” he said. “It is a nice contrast to what I do as a music teacher, to be able to get out into nature and the silence.”

KELLI MORRISON

Brethren Elementary School

Mrs. Morrison is such a passionate teacher. She doesn’t give up on her students she brings out the best in each child in her class. We are so blessed to have her as a teacher.

MITCH KNOLL Brethren High School

BRIDGET WARNKE

Manistee Area Public School

Bridget has built relationships within the student body and her peers that reflect the compassion for helping kids succeed in their future endeavors.

He teaches high school math, including AP calculus. And he goes out of the way for those kids to help them.

BETH ADAMS

Jefferson Elementary

She goes above and beyond for her students and their family. A student’s mom was at the school one afternoon to bring Santa to the classrooms and had to bring her youngest child with. When he started getting fussy, Mrs. Adams offered to take him and he fell asleep in her arms while she continued to teach.

RACHAEL PEABODY

CINDY LUNDBERG

Jefferson Elementary

Cindy is one of the most loving, caring teachers our area has known. From the California area, Cindy has one thing in mind: the importance of love and stability for her students. She understands more than anything the concept of creating a caring community in her classroom, and offers her students the chance to grow and to be given care every day. Cindy comes in earlier than anyone else to make sure everything is perfect, and goes out of her way to give extra help to those who need it!

ERIC JOSLIN Frankfort-Elberta Area Schools

Brethren Elementary School

She is an amazing teacher! Takes time and compassion for her students. Luck to have my child in her class.

Eric is truly amazing and very passionate about music . He has a impact on so many kids from the ones he sees daily or the kids he sees a few times a week for a short period of time. Frankfort is so lucky to have him.

DIANE PARGEON Bear Lake Schools

For outstanding performance in teachings of both English and Spanish, and previously teaching college courses for Spanish. As well as she runs the National Honor Society at Bear Lake Schools.

EDMONDSON Bear Lake Schools

She devotes her affection to every student she fosters, shaping them into self-assured and compassionate individuals. Her passion for reading was infectious among her pupils.

Mrs Cameron gives her heart to each child that she nurtures and helps to grow as a confident and caring person. Her love of books was contagious in her classroom.

AMBER RUTH

Kaleva Norman Dickson Schools

There an absolutely amazing teacher she always show support to her students and is a wonderful person to be around.

BECCA TOWERSEY

Becca is the kindergarten and first grade teacher that dreams are made of! She is kind, intelligent, nurturing, patient, and fun! Under her care my daughter has blossomed.

RYAN OSBORN

Mr. Osborn meets students where they are at and teaches outside the box. He has the ability to reach students that may have difficulty learning the “cookie cutter way” and empowers them, which results in increased self-esteem and educational progression. He brings humor into the classroom and is loved by the students and staff.

Mrs. Lemson has the kindest heart and a contagious smile. She is empathetic, understanding, realistic and has a calm demeanor about her that is seen within her classroom also. She has a true gift in teaching. She’s the type of teacher you hope that your children get to experience.

SUE HAMMON

AMY OBERSKI

Frankfort Middle School

Frankfort Elementary School

Sue is amazing. she is teaching the new steam program at Frankfort elementary with her many years of being a teacher she can connect with any student. This class is by far the kids favorite class to go to.a

ERIC JOSLIN

Frankfort-Elberta Area Schools

She has the best ideas. Always helpful. Encouraging advice! Genuinely caring in everything she does. She exceeds all expectation every interaction 2 years and counting. She understands each child is unique and speaks at their level helping the child reach their potential goals. Outstanding teacher.

BRITTANY KROLCZYK

Frankfort Elberta School

There are very few music teachers that will truly teach their passion. Eric teaches high school band and k5 general music he has made a big impact on some kids who he may see 2 times a week for 30 mins at a

Britt is amazing and truly loves the kids she teaches she always has a smile on her face and always says hello to anyone walking by she makes everyone feel welcomed.