Teacher Of The Year Award Nominations Sought

The Glenwood Community School Foundation is seeking nominations for the fifth annual John A. Gregory Teacher Of the Year Award.

The award is co-sponsored by the foundation and Farm Bureau Financial Services agent John B. Gregory, son of the award’s namesake.

Nominations will be accepted until March 1. A finalist for the award will be selected from each of the district’s four schools with the winner announced at a public ceremony on March 19 at the Glenwood American Legion Hall.

John B. Gregory said the award is more than a memorial to his late father. It’s also a way to show appreciation and recognize the work and dedication of school teachers.

“They’re one of the most important people in our society,” he said. “Training our youth, educating our youth and modeling our youth to take over for us.

“It’s a great occupation, a noble occupation, but we don’t pay them very well and they don’t get a lot of notoriety.”

John A. Gregory began his 37-year teaching career in Pacific Junction and then moved to the Glenwood School System where he taught history until his retirement.  He had a passion for working with children and took great pride in the development and structure of their education.

He had a gift for connecting with his students, teaching content while making it fun, and for setting high expectations for his students that they wanted to uphold because he inspired them to be better.  He was consistent and caring and every student knew that they mattered and had great potential. Mr. Gregory was also a coach of various sports, the director for the summer recreation program and served as the athletic director for many years. His focus was about making a difference for the youth in our community – in and out of the classroom. This award recognizes Mr. Gregory’s dedication to the teaching profession and his influence on the lives of the thousands of students he taught.

John B. Gregory said education has always been important to his family.

“Obviously, I was a teacher, Dad was a teacher, Mom worked at school forever and (my wife) Shari was a school nurse forever, so education is a very important part of our lives,” he said.

Glenwood Community School Foundation President Tiffany Harger said the award was established to recognize and honor teachers who go above and beyond to meet the needs of Glenwood students.

“Furthermore, the award aims to recognize that teachers face many challenges every day in their classrooms, and to promote public recognition and respect for the teaching profession,” she said.

Harger noted that anyone - parents, students, former students, colleagues -  can nominate a teacher for the award.

“It does have to be a teacher with a roster of students in the classroom, instructional coach, Talented And Gifted teacher,” she said. “Teachers are notified if they’ve been nominated and are given a synopsis at the end of what was written about them.”

A committee made up of retired teachers, retired administrators, community members and local business people read the nomination forms and score each one to determine a winner.

The award winner will receive an honorarium award of $500 from Farm Bureau Financial Services and a matching donation of $500 from the Glenwood Community School Foundation for use in the classroom. The other three finalists will each receive $100.

The nomination form can be downloaded by scanning the QR code attached to this article or through a link on the Glenwood Community School District website. Completed nomination forms and letters of support can be sent via email to glenwoodcsf@gmail.com or by mail to P.O. Box 377, Glenwood, Iowa 51534.

The announcement ceremony at the American Legion Hall on March 19 will include appetizers and a cash bar starting at 5:30 p.m. with the award announcement at 6 p.m.

Past John A. Gregory Teacher Of The Year Award Winners
2020 - Adam Giaffoglione, Middle School
2021 - Christina Boldra, High School
2022 - Sue Peters, Northeast Elementary
2023 - Melanie Howard, Middle School