NEW AWARD IS BIG BOOST FOR OUR TEACHERS

This week's news that two Cape Girardeau natives would be handing out $100,000 in public teaching incentive awards every year was exhilarating indeed.

The natives are brothers Richard Kinder, a former Cape Girardeau attorney and now a Houston corporate executive, and Dr. Jerry Kinder of Cape Girardeau, a retired surgeon. They created the Edna C. Kinder Excellence in Teaching Award, named for their late mother.

Mrs. Kinder was a special-education teacher at May Greene Elementary School. She instilled in her boys an appreciation for the power of education, and certainly her training shows in their incredible career and financial success. The brothers' foundation will give away to local teachers in one year an amount of money many area families won't earn in two.

No doubt, the brothers watched Mrs. Kinder's struggles as a public school teacher: the long hours, the small pay, the endless government bureaucracy that sometimes prevents teachers from using the curriculum and methods they know would work with their particular students.

So the Kinders created a way to reward teachers who overcome it all and keep teaching for the only good reasons to do so: a love of children and of learning.

Here's how the award works:

Teachers from Cape Girardeau's public schools will nominate each other, and principals may nominate teachers. The criteria are teaching excellence and a positive impact on children.

A committee that includes Superintendent Dan Steska and Jerry Kinder will pick 10 winners who will receive $10,000 each. The selection will be completed by April 15 annually -- and there is no better time to receive an injection of cash than when taxes are due.

As exciting as this award is, it will be a test for teachers. With $10,000 on the line, they'll have to remain willing to keep the collegial spirit their profession enjoys. They'll have to keep sharing their best teaching tips and helping each other reach the toughest kids. They'll have to find joy in their peers' success even though their good work may not be recognized for a time.

But every teacher should know that the proud parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles of Cape Girardeau appreciate teachers' hard work every single day, award or no award.