Three teachers, principal named Jackson's top educators

LEARNING RECOGNITION

By Heather Kronmueller ~ Southeast Missourian

JACKSON, Mo. -- More than 100 co-workers, friends and family members of four Jackson School District educators gathered Thursday to offer congratulations on being named Educators of the Year by the Jackson Chamber of Commerce.

Teachers Carol Horst, Ken Markin and Jean Schweain along with principal Dennis Parham were honored at the annual Educator of the Year dinner held at the Route 25 Banquet Hall in Jackson.

Each of the honorees received a crystal apple, a lapel pin, a $50 savings bond, $100 cash, a gift certificate for a massage from Catt Chiropractic and a standing ovation from the crowd as their names were announced.

For the past 27 years, Schweain has taught choir and vocal music in Jackson. Prior to that she taught music for five years in Oak Ridge.

She now teaches at Jackson High School, the same school she graduated from more than 30 years ago.

"I was choir secretary, and the little office I used in high school is still my office now," Schweain said.

Schweain, who will retire at the end of the school year, said one of the best memories she has from her teaching career is when the high school choir sang backup for Kenny Rogers at the Kenny Rogers Christmas Special at the Show Me Center in 2000.

Balancing acts

Ken Markin has taught social studies at R. O. Hawkins Junior High School for the past five years of his 19-year teaching career.

He said he has succeeded because he learned the art of balancing the three most important areas of his life: family, religion and career.

"You'll always be fine if you keep these three things in focus," he said. "It will always work out."

Carol Horst has taught in Jackson for 16 of her 20 years in the profession. She teaches art at South Elementary.

Horst said a lot of people have trouble balancing their personal lives with their careers, but she is not one of them. She said her life and her work blend well because both involve her love of art.

Dennis Parham has been in education for 23 years and has been the principal at R. O. Hawkins for the past nine years.

He said the students make the job enjoyable.

Each year the Jackson Chamber of Commerce receives nominations for Educator of the Year from teachers and administrators throughout the district.

A committee of six educators from the Jackson School District, St. Paul Lutheran School, Immaculate Conception, Metro Business College and the Sylvan Learning Center narrow the list of nominees down to a semi-final group before choosing the final four.

This year the committee chose Horst, Markin, Schweain and Parham from a semi-final group of 16 educators.

hkronmueller@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 128