EDUCATORS OF THE YEAR HONORED THURSDAY

It was a special night for Andrea Sachse, Marilyn Jansen and Sonja Davis Thursday. They were honored by being named 1997 Educators of the Year.

The award came about through the Jackson Chamber of Commerce.

The Education Committee was trying to find a way to show how much the schools are appreciated in the community.

The committee came up with the Educator of the Year Award for a teacher in elementary, middle school/junior high and high school.

Each winner received a $200 cash gift and two nights lodging at a Drury Inn hotel.

But they also received the Crystal Apple Award that will be cherished by each recipient for as long as they live.

The three winners have a combined 62 years of experience between them.

Before the program began some ribbing was done at the expense of Jackson superintendent Dr. Howard Jones and all superintendents for that matter.

Mindy Pulley of the education committee started the evening out with a joke that went something like this:

A teacher was at the gate to heaven and was talking with Peter. She asked how do I get into a place this beautiful. Peter replied just spell the word dog. The teacher replied D-O-G. Peter let her into heaven.

Well, Peter was summoned by God to go have a talk. At that time another teacher was waiting at the gate. Peter had to go see God so he asked the teacher to watch the gate for him and if anyone wanted in all they needed to do was spell the word dog. The teacher said she would watch the gate. A few people came through and they asked the teacher how to get in and she had them spell the word dog and they all did so successfully. Then the teacher's superintendent came to the gate. The teacher asked how he got there and he relayed his demise to her and then he asked now how do I get into a place as beautiful as this.

The teacher replied, "spell Czechoslovakia."

The program showed a short video about each of the winners with a short acceptance speech between each category.

Andrea Sachse was the first teacher honored. She has worked for the Jackson School District for 23 years.

Her career began with the task of organizing a program for students with learning disabilities.

Later she organized a program for students with mental retardation.

But in 1985, she needed a change and she took over as a fifth-grade teacher.

The video asked the teachers to answer many questions about their occupation, such as, memorable moments, what do you like to do in your free time and how do you balance your career with your family.

Sachse said, "I feel the most important idea I have always tried to portray and impress upon my students, was to try one's best and settle for nothing less."

Sachse accepted her award and with a tear in her eye she thanked her parents "because they always encouraged me."

Marilyn Jansen, a mathematics teacher at R.O. Hawkins Junior High was the next teacher to be honored.

"One of my objectives in my classes is to teach so that my students will learn how to study, how to become good problem solvers and how to use this in future classes, as well as in life," Jansen said.

Jansen came to the Jackson School District in 1987. She teaches geometry, applied math, pre-algebra, algebra and consumer math.

And as one of her students in the video said "she helps her students try to understand, so she probably deserves it (the award)."

Jansen accepted her award by giving credit to God and she also said that the pats, like this one, on the back are really important to teachers.

The last teacher to be honored was Sonja Davis who has taught for 17 years in Jackson.

"If I were to identify one skill for teacher success. I would name flexibility the willingness to adapt a schedule to meet an individual student's needs."

Davis teaches various language arts classes. She also continues her education and has 18 extra hours of education since she received her masters degree.

Davis said she got into teaching because she wanted to go back and help teenagers make better decisions.

It seems that all three of these teachers have achieved their goals in their careers and Thursday night they were justly rewarded for their hard work.

The program closed on a lighter note when Howard Alexander, a real estate agent and education committee member, recounted a story about one of his former students he was showing a house to.

The student asked if Alexander remembered paddling him. "Do you know how hard it is to sell a house to someone that you paddled?" Alexander said, joking.