DeKalb County educators recognized for Excellence Awards

SYCAMORE – The DeKalb County Community Foundation and DeKalb County Regional Office of Education recently recognized area educators and staff during the annual Excellence in Education Awards reception .

The award recipients were from the Genoa-Kingston, Hiawatha and Sycamore school districts. Over the past 23 years, the Excellence in Education Awards recognized 114 educators and distributed $114,000 in awards.

Genoa-Kingston School District 7th Grade English and Language Arts Teacher Karmen Ewald being introduced and recognized by one of her students. (Photo provided courtesy of the DeKalb County Community Fund )

The recipients of the 2022 Excellence in Education Awards are:

Pre-K through 5th Grade Teacher: Lisa Winters, Instructional Math Coach, Sycamore School District
6th through 8th Grade Teacher: Karmen Ewald, 7th Grade English and Language Arts Teacher, Genoa-Kingston School District
9th through 12th Grade Teacher: Drayton Eggleson, Choir Director, Sycamore School District
Support Staff: Cindy Lauritzen, Food Service Director, Hiawatha School District
Administration: Nicole Stuckert, Assistant Superintendent for Business Services/CSBO, Sycamore School District

The Excellence in Education Awards recognizes teachers, administrators, and support staff who inspired a love of learning in students and play an active role in their schools and communities in DeKalb County. Support for the awards comes through an endowed Fund at the Community Foundation created by retired Sycamore elementary school teacher Yvonne Johnson. Winners receive a check for $1,000 and an engraved clock.

The recipients were recognized at a ceremony June 27.

To learn about the Excellence in Education Awards, visit dekalbccf.org/eie.

(Left to right): 2022 Excellence in Education Award recipients and donor Cindy Lauritzen, Drayton Eggleson, Karmen Ewald, Yvonne Johnson, Lisa Winters, and Nicole Stuckert. (Photo provided courtesy of the DeKalb County Community Fund )