EDUCATORS HONORED BY CHAMBER

Richard Giles wouldn't have made it through his first day in a classroom if not for the help of mentors. Almost 35 years later, he got to thank them during the Educator of the Year banquet Thursday night.

"The first day in a classroom I was really uncomfortable," said Giles, the principal at Clippard Elementary School. "But three ladies rescued me and helped me realize I did know what I was doing."

And that air of confidence helped carry him through 35 years as an educator. Giles will retire this year.

With 105 combined years of experience, Giles, Mary Ann Lewis, Shelby Shell and Barbara Lohr can rely on their confidence and professional dedication to carry them through the school day. All were winners of the 1996 Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Educators of the Year Awards. Each received a $500 cash award and crystal apple of recognition.

Fun is the key to teaching students at May Greene, Mary Ann Lewis said. She received the award for elementary education.

In Lewis' classroom, children know they will be loved, safe and will learn, one nomination letter wrote.

For 12 years, Lewis has been teaching at May Greene school and has tried to teach her children that teachers can be respected and admired.

After learning of her nomination as an Educator of the Year, a friend sent Lewis flowers at school. "My students stood up and clapped," she said. "They were just as excited and very proud of me."

And being proud of students is important when they are adolescents. Just ask Shelby Shell, an eighth- and ninth-grade math teacher at Central Junior High. She received an honor for secondary education.

"I try to get to know my students personally," she said, adding that sometimes that means attending dances, ball games or music concerts to see them in action. "They may not be the best in algebra but they can do other things." There are just some rewards that can't be put in a paycheck, she added.

Shell has been teaching for 38 years, 19 of them at the junior high school.

For 26 years, Barbara Lohr has been trying to set an example for her students at the Cape Area Vocational Technical School where she teaches office technology courses.

"I realize that by being an example, you earn respect and when you earn respect then you can motivate," she said.

There isn't one simple technique to motivating students, she added. "Every class, every student is so different," Lohr said. "The only way is to treat each one as an individual."

There were more than 100 nominations for the awards, said Kathy Swan, education committee chairman for the chamber.