By Sacha Johnston
Each month, Eagle Radio honors an outstanding teacher in USD 475. Students around the district nominate their favorite teachers for the honor. Eagle Radio partners with other local organizations to award prizes to the winning teacher, the nominating student, and the teacher’s class.
On Wednesday, December 18 th , representatives from Eagle Radio, Kansas State Bank, and Konza Community Health embarked on Westwood Elementary School to surprise this month’s winner. Mrs. Kim Dressman was not surprised when she received a call letting her know that Mr. Curtis Hall, 4 th grade teacher at her school, was chosen as this month’s winner.
Mr. Curtis Hall has been with Geary County Schools since 2003. He was nominated by his 4 th grade student, Jacob Bender. Jacob wrote a very compelling nomination for Mr. Hall, calling him an “amazing teacher” and he emphasized that Mr. Hall truly cares for his students. He appreciates Mr. Hall’s unorthodox methods of keeping his classroom focused, and during parent teacher conferences, Jacob noticed that students from past years always make a point to stop by his classroom.
Mark Ediger, from Eagle Radio, presented Mr. Hall with a plaque for his award, and helped serve ice cream to his classroom of students. Graham Foust, from Kansas State Bank, brought a bag of gifts and helped pass out slices of pizza to eager students. Killian Wood, from Konza, brought a gift for Mr. Wood, as well as smile kits for each of the children in the class. In addition, Desiree Granstra, from Eagle Radio presented Jacob with 2 movie tickets and a popcorn voucher for the movie theater.
Mr. Hall was very surprised to find out that he had won the honor. He managed to maintain order in his classroom during the presentation of the award, even with an entire crew of adults passing out pizza, ice cream, and gifts.
