🏆 If you like good news then this is for you!

Hot off the press, the teacher awards for Augusta County Public Schools and our new partner, Grace Christian School are in!

Each month, we're highlighting an outstanding elementary, middle, and high school teacher or staff member who has exhibited superior dedication and unique determination in fulfilling their job responsibilities.

It's our way to say thank you to the amazing teachers and staff that are working hard to serve students during this challenging time.

Each winner will receive a $50 gift card to Byers Street Bistro, a local favorite in Staunton.

Help us celebrate the winners from a very deserving group of nominees!

From Augusta County Public Schools, we congratulate:

🏆 Elementary School Award Winner: Sherry Cox
Position: Cafeteria Manager
School: Craigsville Elementary School

Recent superior dedication and unique determination in fulfilling job responsibilities: Mrs. Cox worked all summer long, feeding students at the elementary, middle, and high school for the Craigsville area. The list also includes homeschooled children, city students, and siblings; anyone who needed meals could be confident they would receive them. She sometimes fixed over 800 meals in one day. Her dedication never wavered over the summer and has continued throughout this school year. Sherry prepares breakfast and lunch meals four days a week for students attending face-to-face instruction and prepares meals to assist the high school cafeteria for deliveries on Mondays. Mrs. Cox regularly participates in school-wide events.

Most recently preparing special menu items for our One Book One School, “The One and Only Ivan” by Katherine Applegate. Sherry takes care of the faculty and staff by cooking for and assisting with special menu days, like potato bar days, taco days, and salad days. Mrs. Cox has been extremely flexible during COVID 19 and giving of her time to help families no matter what the situation. Sherry only missed two days this summer when she was feeding families. She made sure when she was out that little needed to be finished before giving meals to families. She has an “I can make it happen” attitude toward all requests from teachers and administration! Sherry continuously looks for new recipes that students and staff will enjoy! She keeps the food menu dynamic and appealing! We are very fortunate to have an individual in our building who cares so much about the whole school community!

🏆 Middle School Award Winner: Stephen Trach
Position: Exceptional Learners Support Staff
School: Wilson Middle School, Fishersville VA

Recent superior dedication and unique determination in fulfilling job responsibilities: Mr. Trach has transitioned into the long-term sub position as the lead teacher in one of our Exceptional Learner classrooms. He has taken his role as an opportunity to transform the classroom into a place of routine, learning experiences, and teamwork. Additionally, Mr. Trach has shown initiative by scheduling with behavior specialists, instructional support staff, and student services staff to ensure that he is best meeting the needs of students, following IEP goals and accommodations, providing appropriate instruction. He has spearheaded the group in planning and collecting VAAP evidence so that each students’ assessment binder is complete (the team has started from scratch beginning in January). He often problem solves with administration and staff to reflect on student behavior and is always willing to make adjustments if it means the opportunity to better serve his students. He has put in a tremendous amount of work, served long hours, taken ownership, and shown initiative. Without Mr. Trach, our program would be floundering. He has united our support staff group in that program, and while there may be challenges, our team and students are flourishing due to the work of Mr. Trach.

🏆 High School Award Winner: Shannon Wilt
Position: Instructional Aide
School: Stuarts Draft High School

Recent superior dedication and unique determination in fulfilling job responsibilities: Shannon is one of our instructional assistants. She goes above and beyond for her students. She spends time outside of school hours learning content so she can re-teach concepts to our students. She is an advocate for the students she works with. She contacts the classroom teacher to make sure she is clear on assignments that are due and works with the students to create a plan. In addition to all of this work, she runs our Learning Lab, which allows our most at risk students to attend school four days a week instead of two days. She is very compassionate to these students. She understands how to challenge them with academics, and when to address their social/emotional needs.

From Grace Christian School, we congratulate:

🏆 Elementary School Award Winner: Cindy Jones
Position: 5th and 6th-Grade Teacher of Language Arts, Bible, Reading, and History
School: Grace Christian School, 5th and 6th Grade

Recent superior dedication and unique determination in fulfilling job responsibilities: In Mrs. Jones’ second year of teaching for GCS, she has already demonstrated dedication to her craft and an outstanding flexibility in meeting students where they are. When asked to teach four subjects to two grades this year, during a COVID year, she not only agreed but exceeded all expectations in the classroom while incorporating students with special needs. She has challenged her students intellectually and created a thirst for knowledge while teaching a combined classroom with in-class and online students simultaneously. Mrs. Jones is a valuable asset to our community, and we are thrilled to have her.

🏆 Middle School Award Winner: Julie Yeomans
Position: 5th and 6th-Grade Teacher of Language Arts, Bible, Reading, and History
School: Grace Christian School, Middle School Math Teacher, MS Dean of Students

Recent superior dedication and unique determination in fulfilling job responsibilities: Mrs. Yeomans sets the bar high in leadership and instruction. She makes learning math challenging and achievable at the same time. She is a favorite of students because of her dedication and imaginative approach to math. To add to her teaching expertise, she stepped up to fill a huge need as our MS Dean of Students. In this role, she is sensitive and understanding of our Middle School students. She is a bold and forward thinker who recognizes issues quickly and resolves them before they develop into problems.

🏆 High School Award Winner: Dr. Charles Jackson
Position: Science Teacher
School: Grace Christian School, High School

Recent superior dedication and unique determination in fulfilling job responsibilities: Once again, Dr. Jackson has excelled in teaching science to students in an intellectually challenging and motivating manner, and he continues to make himself available during and beyond school hours to students who need additional academic attention and also for mentoring and encouragement. Additionally, he has volunteered for extra duties that were needed this year to deal with logistical challenges thrust upon us by COVID-19 and has been one of the most flexible teachers in responding to the many changes to plans throughout this school year.

We applaud the efforts of all the nominees and celebrate the positive impact that the award winners are bringing to their students and schools!

We are also looking for other school systems within the Lingo service area to partner with, so please let us know if your school district is interested!

In the meantime, if you have questions about our services, we’d love to talk with you. You can reach us at (540) 712-0300 or by emailing us at support@lingonetworks.net.