New Carlisle Rotarians honored three teachers from the Northwestern and Tecumseh Local districts last Tuesday during their weekly luncheon. These educators, who were nominated for the honor by their peers, were selected by a panel of judges for their embodiment of superb qualities and high standards within their profession.

Mendy Leffel, Brian Stevens, and Lisa Wells were named New Carlisle Rotary Club’s Outstanding Teachers of the Year, and the three honorees were presented a cash award as well as a symbolic school bell statue to commemorate their accomplishments.

New Carlisle Rotary President Bob Holder welcomed the recipients and their families to the ceremony last week and congratulated them on their awards. Holder said a total of 11 educators from the Northwestern and Tecumseh districts were nominated, and from those 11, five finalists were chosen to interview. The judges selected Leffel, Stevens, and Wells from the five finalists interviewed to take this year’s top honors.

Leffel was more than humble as she accepted her award, saying: “There must not have been many applicants,” she joked upon learning that she had made it through to the final round.

Leffel is a Title One reading and math teacher at the elementary level who has worked in the district for 19 years. She was nominated by New Carlisle Elementary Principal Kathryn Randenburg, who said that Leffel’s high expectations and compassion to each student is worthy of recognition.

“Her expectations for lessons are set high and she challenges the students to meet those expectations,” Randenburg said in her nomination letter. “She also treats all of her students with compassion and equality and gives the students a feeling of value and meaning.”

Randenburg also noted that Leffel is involved with many school committees and organizations, including the Sonshine Club, which provides mentoring opportunities for students after school.

“We have a good time,” Leffel said of her students as she accepted her awards. “We do everything together—I’ve laughed with my students, we’ve cried together, we get frustrated together…we have a wonderful staff, students, and principals in this building,” she said.

Brian Stevens teaches American History at Northwestern High School, and has been with the district since 2009. Stevens was nominated by his colleague Vicki Packard-Cooper, who said she selected Stevens because of his natural zeal for his work.

“During my thirty-seven years of teaching, I have worked with many great educators. But few have had the energy and passion that I see day in and day out in Mr. Brian Stevens,” said Packard-Cooper. “In his class, students do not just memorize social studies facts; they analyze, think, discuss, and form their own thoughts…he molds them into better citizens…better friends, better children, better husbands and wives, better employees, better parents.”

Stevens thanked the Rotarians, saying that to be recognized and mentioned by the club was “quite an honor.” Stevens said he was lucky enough to be raised by his two wonderful parents, who instilled in him the importance of a strong work ethic and positive attitude, which he said are the two most important traits possessed by a teacher.

He noted that he is now in his fifteenth year of teaching, and works to not only educate his students, but to act as a mentor to new teachers and employees as well. He said he struggled during his first year of teaching, especially with finding a balance between work and family life, leading him to share his tips on the subject to new staff members.

Lisa Wells has been with the Tecumseh district since 1993, working as a Kindergarten teacher and Intervention Specialist at the high school and elementary levels. Wells was nominated by three of her peers as Rotary’s Teacher of the Year, who all praised her professionalism and work ethic, as well as her maternal instincts that cause her to aim for the best in all her students as if they were her own children.

Tecumseh High School Principal Ivan Gehret said Wells “takes time to get to know all of the students on a personal level and helps develop individual goals that will challenge the students and prepare them for their future aspirations.”

“The standard that Mrs. Wells uses as a measuring stick is that of a mother,” Gehret added. “She is willing to go above and beyond in order to help all students. She holds the same goals and hoped for her students as she hopes others would for her own children.”

Wells said she is a transplant to Clark County, as she was raised in Columbus and then went to work at the University of Dayton. She was then hired as a Kindergarten teacher at Tecumseh by Sharon Powers, noting that she just celebrated her 25th year in the district.

“I really enjoy working with the high-schoolers—it’s the most rewarding job ever,” said Wells. “Especially the Seniors—I have 16 of them,” she added, noting that they only have a few dozen days left to complete everything required before graduation.

“I appreciate this honor,” she said.

New Carlisle Rotary thanked member Mike Stafford for proposing the idea of recognizing outstanding teachers in the local districts many years ago. The club also thanked Steve Graham, Dean Pond, and Roger Pankake for serving as judges, noting that the task of selecting just a few of the deserving nominees this year was likely very difficult.

The club’s hope in honoring these individuals is to make them realize that the community appreciates the value of what they do each day to shape the futures of their children.