Chamber recognizes student, educator excellence

In April, the Greater Shelby Chamber of Commerce celebrated excellence in the classroom by recognizing more than 50 students and teachers in its inaugural Students and Educators of the year event.

The Student and Educator of the Year program is one of two parts of the Chamber’s Shelby One campaign on Workforce Development organized by the Education Workgroup. The other is the Keeping it Real program, which educates ninth-grade students on the current cost of living.

The Chamber completed its first full year of the Keeping It Real program in April. Since August 2013, staff and volunteers visited 10 schools and 2,627 students in the county.

“The feedback we received from the students also shows that we achieved our dual goals of getting them to start thinking about their future and sharing a slice of reality when it comes to what things cost,” said Keyla Handley, the Chamber’s director of community and workforce development, said in a release.

The Chamber has already started working on improvements for next year’s Keeping It Real program and launching its career awareness fair program for all 10th-grade students throughout Shelby County.

“To you students and educators, you’ve truly made us from the business side of this partnership realize that the best is yet to come for Shelby County,” Chamber president and CEO Kirk Mancer said.

Three of the four selected as 2013-2014 Students and Teachers of the year attend or teach at schools on the U.S. 280 corridor.

Elementary Educator of the Year: Kelly Hill, Inverness Elementary School

Secondary Educator of the Year: Jodie Ferguson, Oak Mountain High School

College Track Student of the Year: Tahireh Markert, Indian Springs School

Career Track Student of the Year: Elizabeth Frederick, Montevallo High School

Students selected for the award each received a $750 scholarship. Teachers also received a $750 award for use in their classrooms. The awards were sponsored by America’s First Federal Credit Union.

“It’s a lot to think about,” Hill said. “I’ll probably use it for more books or technology.”

280-area nominees for Student and Teacher of the Year were:

Career Track Student

Noah Gregson, Oak Mountain High School

College Track Students

Margaret Hayes, Oak Mountain High School

Melissa Mathews, Briarwood Christian School

Maeghan Steelreath, Chelsea High School

Elementary Educators

Kathryn Brekle, Mt Laurel Elementary School

Laura Wolfe, Oak Mountain Intermediate School

Secondary Educators

Jennifer Bailey, Chelsea High School

Lisa Balazs, Indian Springs School

Ray Haley, Chelsea Middle School

For more, visit shelbychamber.org.