A night for the teachers. The National Joint Powers Alliance honored 31 educators in Minnesota’s Region 5 at the NJPA’s first awards banquet Tuesday night. The award honored educators in Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd and Wadena Counties.
Rynell Schock, NJPA Education Services Leader, says, “It’s important to NJPA and this community because we don’t have a recognition of this sort. And when teachers are working day in and day out, year after year, we just need to recognize them.”
Cathy Riewer, a Language Arts teacher at Bertha_Hewitt Elementary School, says, “This is fairly new, but it’s a great opportunity for teachers to get recognized in doing things that go above and beyond the classroom.”
The NJPA says quality teachers are key for Minnesota students to stay competitive against other students throughout the country and the world.
Schock says, “American schools, Minnesota schools, our regional school are going to withstand the riggers that are required of students we need to have innovative teachers in our classrooms with our students.”
Some of the educators say by winning their award they want to strive to improve their quality in the classroom.
Roxanne Lundeen, a title one educator at Hewitt Elementary School, says, “You feel an obligation when you get an award to bring up your skills a notch and become an even better teacher.”
Riewer says, “It’s a great honor in the field of education there aren’t a lot of awards and teachers aren’t recognized for the things that they do. And we’re recognized here. There are few of us being recognized today, but there are hundred of great teachers that are in this field.”
Educators got a chance to talk and learn from their peers while having fun.
Staples Elementary School reading teacher, Laurie Paskewitz, says, “It’s just kind of fun to be honored for the hard work that we do everyday. It looks like we’re going to get a good meal and there’s a good speaker. And it’s fun to have my husband here and to see other coworkers and my principal.”
Schock says, “In education our work is really done in the classrooms and we as teachers become very focused on that work. An evening like tonight allows us to step away from that.”
Award winning teacher get a chance to join the NJPA academy, which is designed to help teach and develop young teacher.

By — Lakeland PBS

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