Join our Mailing List!
Please click the link below to sign up for your community paper mailing list. Stay up to date with all the events going on in your community as well as the latest news.Sign Up Today!
Chamber honors area educators
By Ray Weikal
It was a full-blown red carpet gala for educators and students at the Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce 2008 Excellence in Education Banquet.
With chamber music, haute cuisine and white linens, chamber members threw their annual party for on May 1 at the KCI Expo Center in Kansas City North.
Representatives from every public and private school district, college and university in the Northland were honored during the three-hour event. Dozens of awards were distributed among about 250 nominees in seven categories, including college scholarships, and booster, educational support and teaching honors.
Several educators and students from North Kansas City Schools received awards, including Laura Craft, a teacher at Ravenwood Elementary School.
“It’s exciting to be honored,” Craft said before the ceremony began.
Ellen Todd of Curry Investment Co. chaired the chamber’s Excellence in Education Program and welcomed participants to the banquet.
“This is a special evening when we get to honor our hard-working educators,” Todd said. “Education in the Northland is thriving.”
Heather Claybrook of Fox 4 News and Chris Stigall of 710 Talk Radio emceed the banquet, which was attended by about 1,000 people.
“This is kind of like the Academy Awards for educators,” Stigall said. “You folks represent the very best in teaching and leading our kids.”
Stigall, a Liberty resident, joked briefly about the recent Liberty school district spending scandal during his opening remarks.
“It’s going to be a long night, so I’m here to tell you now that the bar is open,” Stigall said. “And I can tell you that none of it was purchased at Sam’s Club.”
It was recently discovered that Liberty’s former superintendent submitted to the district for reimbursement altered Sam’s Club receipts that hid alcohol purchases.
There was some excitement at the ceremony after Stigall announced that a violent stormfront was moving east from Wyandotte County, Kan. People were advised that they might need to evacuate to tunnels on either side of the banquet hall, but the precautions proved unnecessary.
Scholarships were handed out to 17 high school seniors from Platte and Clay counties. Afterward, state Sen. Luann Ridgeway expressed her appreciation.
“We’re really proud of all of you for supporting education,” Ridgeway said.
The Christa McAuliffe Pioneer in Education Award is the top honor handed out at the annual chamber event. It’s given to the area teacher who best embodies the spirit of the McAuliffe, a teacher who died in the 1985 space shuttle Challenger explosion. This year, the award was given to Erich Ostrowski, a teacher at Park Hill School District’s Southeast Elementary School.
“He consistently embraces students and parents in order to make them feel part of the class room community,” Claybrook said.
Staff writer Ray Weikal can be reached at 389-6637 or rayweikal@npgco.com.
printable version
e-mail this story
With chamber music, haute cuisine and white linens, chamber members threw their annual party for on May 1 at the KCI Expo Center in Kansas City North.
Representatives from every public and private school district, college and university in the Northland were honored during the three-hour event. Dozens of awards were distributed among about 250 nominees in seven categories, including college scholarships, and booster, educational support and teaching honors.
Several educators and students from North Kansas City Schools received awards, including Laura Craft, a teacher at Ravenwood Elementary School.
“It’s exciting to be honored,” Craft said before the ceremony began.
Ellen Todd of Curry Investment Co. chaired the chamber’s Excellence in Education Program and welcomed participants to the banquet.
“This is a special evening when we get to honor our hard-working educators,” Todd said. “Education in the Northland is thriving.”
Heather Claybrook of Fox 4 News and Chris Stigall of 710 Talk Radio emceed the banquet, which was attended by about 1,000 people.
“This is kind of like the Academy Awards for educators,” Stigall said. “You folks represent the very best in teaching and leading our kids.”
Stigall, a Liberty resident, joked briefly about the recent Liberty school district spending scandal during his opening remarks.
“It’s going to be a long night, so I’m here to tell you now that the bar is open,” Stigall said. “And I can tell you that none of it was purchased at Sam’s Club.”
It was recently discovered that Liberty’s former superintendent submitted to the district for reimbursement altered Sam’s Club receipts that hid alcohol purchases.
There was some excitement at the ceremony after Stigall announced that a violent stormfront was moving east from Wyandotte County, Kan. People were advised that they might need to evacuate to tunnels on either side of the banquet hall, but the precautions proved unnecessary.
Scholarships were handed out to 17 high school seniors from Platte and Clay counties. Afterward, state Sen. Luann Ridgeway expressed her appreciation.
“We’re really proud of all of you for supporting education,” Ridgeway said.
The Christa McAuliffe Pioneer in Education Award is the top honor handed out at the annual chamber event. It’s given to the area teacher who best embodies the spirit of the McAuliffe, a teacher who died in the 1985 space shuttle Challenger explosion. This year, the award was given to Erich Ostrowski, a teacher at Park Hill School District’s Southeast Elementary School.
“He consistently embraces students and parents in order to make them feel part of the class room community,” Claybrook said.
Staff writer Ray Weikal can be reached at 389-6637 or rayweikal@npgco.com.