Tippecanoe Valley Names Teachers Of The Year
MENTONE — Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation named their teachers of the year during the board meeting held at Mentone Elementary last night, April 15.
The school corporation chose to honor four teachers of the year, one from each building, and one overall teacher of the year
“The four teachers are experts in their fields who guide students of all backgrounds and achievement levels to achieve excellence,” said Tania Grimes, director of curriculum. “They collaborate with their colleagues, students and families to create a school culture of respect and success. These four individuals deliberately connect the classroom and key stakeholders to foster a strong community at large. They demonstrate leadership and innovation in and outside of the classroom that embodies lifelong learning.”
Kristopher Walker was named 2019 Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation Teacher of the Year and Tippecanoe Valley High School Teacher of the Year. Walker is a tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade English teacher at the high school. Walker’s portfolio will now be submitted to the Indiana Department of Education this summer as the corporation’s nominee for Indiana State Teacher of the Year.
Andrea Michel was named 2019 Akron Elementary Teacher of the Year, Lacey Jones was named 2019 Mentone Elementary Teacher of the Year and Niki Early was named 2019 Tippecanoe Valley Middle School Teacher of the Year.
“We recognized four teachers tonight and those are hard decisions to make within buildings because we’ve got a lot of great teachers at Tippecanoe Valley,” said Blaine Conley, superintendent. “The heart that they show for our students and our community, we just appreciate that so much.”
The board will hold a public work session at 6 p.m. May 16 at the administration office and the next regular meeting at 6 p.m. May 20, at Akron Elementary.
In other news, the board:
- Heard a spotlight on Mentone Elementary School. Students involved in the student council, spell bowl and math team were recognized, along with students who earned a perfect score on the IREAD-3 test.
- Accepted a $620 Donors Choose grant for wrestling gear including headgear and knee pads.
- Accepted a $257 Donors Choose grant for sensory box items to benefit students on the Autism Spectrum.
- Approved the hiring of Sorayda Guzman Baca, instructional assistant at Akron Elementary; Hadassah Foster, instructional assistant at Mentone Elementary; Katrina Swihart, instructional assistant at Mentone Elementary; Alyssa Krachinski, instructional assistant at Mentone Elementary; and Estelle Neddef, custodian at Mentone Elementary.
- Accepted the resignation of Cathy McClone, custodian at Mentone Elementary; Dora Maish, head cook at TVMS; and Alissa Trippiedi, assistant girls’ basketball coach and math teacher at TVHS.
- Accepted the retirement of Gregg Sciarra, physical education teacher at TVHS.
- Approved two overnight field trip requests for TVHS volleyball team and World Food Prize Conference.
- Approved driver’s education salaries.