Knapke received award

Twenty-five years ago this week, a Fort Recovery principal was being honored.

The September 14, 1996, edition of The Commercial Review featured coverage of Nancy Knapke receiving the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award.

Knapke, the principal of Fort Recovery’s East and Sharpsburg elementary schools, was one of two recipients for the award, which included a $25,000 prize.

“I’m utterly shocked,” Knapke said after Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction John Goff visited East Elementary to tell her about the award.

“The educators we honor today represent the absolute best of Ohio’s educators,” said Goff. “These professionals demonstrated an outstanding commitment to improving teaching and learning. As experts in their field, they serve as role models for the entire state.”

The program that had been established just four years earlier provided public recognition and a financial award to outstanding kindergarten through 12th grade teachers, principals and other professionals who made contributions to education.

Knapke, now the director of Fort Recovery State Museum, is a 1961 Fort Recovery High School graduate who went on to earn her bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton and master’s degree from Ball State University. She started her career in Dayton and returned to Fort Recovery as a third grade teacher in 1964. She became principal in 1989. She has been recognized as the village’s 1991 Citizen of the Year and the 1994 Fort Recovery Hall of Fame Award.

“I don’t know how this started,” said an emotional Knapke following the presentation, passing on credit to her staff. “I feel totally unworthy. It’s those people in the hallway that made this possible. I didn’t get here alone.”