Cape chamber selects five as educators of year

Five Cape Girardeau-area teachers will be honored as 2006 Educators of the Year.

The five are Mark Hahn, Lynne Karnes, Steven Schaffner, Pam Schulte and Mark Langenfeld. The first four teach in area public and private elementary and secondary schools. Langenfeld is a professor at Southeast Missouri State University.

Each of the teachers will receive the Crystal Apple Award, $500 and a commemorative video documenting their work at a banquet at Drury Lodge on May 4.

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce hands out the annual awards.

Hahn has been teaching science at Central High School for 19 years. "I did know from an early age that I wanted to pursue a career in the field of science.

"I became hooked on science because of its focus on finding answers to questions," said Hahn.

Hahn said he teaches his students that science is a process of learning in itself. "I want them to become lifelong learners," he said.

Karnes is a second-grader teacher at St. Vincent de Paul School. "It has been said that when you touch the life of a child, you touch eternity," she said.

"I have observed that children learn best through their own experience and interactions," she said.

Karnes said she combines the curriculum with a hands-on approach.

Schaffner teaches music-orchestra at Central High and Central Junior High schools.

"I experience daily rewards," he said of teaching music. "The adrenaline kicks in when a beginner brightens up and hollers, 'I got it,' or when the entire high school orchestra gets deathly quiet because they're on the cusp of playing a passage really well."

"Since most days are out of tune and out of time, it's important to keep a sense of humor. Teenagers provide many opportunities for comedy relief," he said. "Humor is an important component of my teaching day."

Schulte is a biology teacher at Central High School, where she has taught for 29 years.

"Attempting to instill a love of learning in a student is the greatest challenge a teacher faces," she said.

Schulte enjoys the opportunity for creativity in the classroom. "Approaches and techniques that are successful with one class of students may not work well with a different group," she said.

"It is always challenging and frequently frustrating to find an approach that reaches students. However, the greater the challenge, the greater the personal satisfaction when a technique is successful," she said.

Langenfeld is a professor in the departments of health, human performance and recreation and biology.

His teaching has drawn praise from students, chamber officials said.

Langenfeld said he cares about good teaching. "Throughout my career I have placed top priority on high quality teaching because I deeply believe that the public expects and deserves teaching excellence from its universities," he said.