EJMS students create award

Members of the East Jay Middle School student council have seen teachers have a positive impact on their lives.
So they want to say thank you.
The student council, led by president Lucy Laux, is establishing the We Are JC Excellence in Education Award to honor teachers throughout Jay School Corporation.
“I’ve seen other things that other corporations do, and I just thought it would be a good idea,” said Lucy Laux, mentioning the Golden Apple Award that NBC 33 presents to teachers in the Fort Wayne area.
The EJMS student council has been working on the program since Laux came up with the idea in the spring. It plans to give out the first award in October, with a goal of honoring a teacher from each of the county’s 10 schools during the course of the year.
Students will be able to nominate their favorite teachers for the honor, and the East Jay student council’s teacher award committee will choose the winners.
“(We’re looking for) someone who is personal, who would stay after school just to talk to and who would work with you if you don’t understand something,” said Spencer Lee, who serves on the committee along with Emily Reier, Hannah Link, Aylin Montes, Alex Huey, Thomas Hemmelgarn, Matt Franks and Laux.
The committee members felt it was important to honor teachers, naming Connie Lyons and Susan Denney as a couple of their favorites, because of the important work they do every day.
“We want to make them feel good about what they’re doing,” said Huey.
“Because they have a hard job,” added Franks.
Winning teachers will get a certificate as well as a gift basket of items donated from local businesses. Laux and her committee members will be sending letters to businesses requesting donations and will also be making personal visits in the coming weeks. Principals will present the award to the winning teacher, and EJMS student council sponsor Carla Johnson said the hope is that after the program is established each individual school’s student council will take ownership of the award.
“We kind of see it as expanding into something more than us,” she said.[[In-content Ad]]