Sun intern
The Milford Miami Chamber of Commerce honored students, educators and classified staff at the annual Dinner of Excellence.
Staff from all nine Milford Exempted Village School District schools, the Live Oaks Career Center and Milford Christian Academy were recognized. After a brief introduction by Chamber President Chris Hamm, dinner was served while a video played of the award recipients saying a few words.
The Dinner of Excellence is one of Hamm’s favorite events of the year because it brings in all of the area’s different organizations, he said.
“You don’t have this group all together one time throughout the year, they’re all doing their own things and they’re all working hard in their own ways, and to bring everybody together and celebrate the schools tonight, it’s always a great event,” said Hamm.
One teacher was awarded Educator of the Year for each of the schools represented, as well as one person for Classified Staff/Volunteer of the Year.
This years recipients of the Educator of the Year award are Sarah Taylor, Leslie Daniel, Bridget Moore, Kelly Sullivan, Kristin Arnett, Allison Willson, Nicole Ward, Kyleen Masuga, Amanda Zimmerman, DeAnn O’ Toole and Emma Walker.
“It’s an honor because I was recognized by my colleagues, not just my administrator, and I think that it says a lot, knowing that I work with such a good staff. So I am who I am as an educator because of the staff that I work with, and I wouldn’t be the teacher that I am without the teachers around me,” said Ward, who is a language arts teacher at Milford Junior High School.
This years recipients of the Classified Staff/Volunteer of the Year are Chris Duffy, Matt Carpenter, Beth Kyle, Erin Kushner, Kathi Swift, Nikki Beverly, Stacy Megie, Debbie Hinners, Marcia Dauw, Tami Thomayer and Jody Gilman.
“It’s neat to see all the people here that are all your friends and that are here with you to share the moment. I appreciated it, it was fun, I had a good time,” said Carpenter, who is a custodian at Milford Junior High School.
Six students were also honored at the ceremony, each with a different scholarship, five of which were for $500 and one of which was for $2,500. Kristen Dalrymple was given the Mary Ann Partin Memorial Scholarship, Dani Lunsford was given the Frontier Days Scholarship, Tara Mick was given the Milford/Miami Township Chamber of Commerce Scholarship, Malia Ferry was given the Herbie J. Schell Scholarship, Colleen Grimm was given the Greater Milford Historical Society/Promont Scholarship and Corbin Shane Hooker was given the Milford School Foundation Scholarship of $2,500.
The Don and Jean Ackermann Award is given to businesses that are involved with and give back to the community; this years recipients are SHP Leading Design, 3M, the Miami Township Police Dept., Turner Construction, The Goddard School of Loveland, Target and J R Morris Landscaping, LLC.
After all the scheduled awards were given out and this years retirees were recognized, a final award was given to honor Robert Farrell who is retiring from his position as Milford School’s superintendent. Hamm called it a touching moment.
A video of the Educator of the Year award recipients can be seen on the Milford Miami Township Chamber of Commerce Facebook page.