Schools
Crystal Lake Teacher Earns 'Teacher of the Month' Award
Home State Bank and McHenry County's Star 105.5 present "Teacher of the Month" award to Belinda Strebel on Sept. 30th.
Strebel, a seventh-grade language arts and social studies teacher at Bernotas Middle School in Crystal Lake, was nominated for the award by former student Elena Starcher, who is now an eighth-grader at Bernotas. “I always knew I would be a teacher,” says Strebel. “I have worked with thousands of kids in my career and, of course, there are a handful that live on in the stories I tell year to year…kids that I was so lucky to work with, grow with and laugh with...kids like Elena. She is smart, creative and kind. I am so lucky to work with her and other kids like her every day.”
Bernotas principal Jeffry Prickett said, “What an exciting day for Mrs. Strebel! This was a well-deserved honor for Belinda, a teacher who works extremely hard and is beloved by all students. There are so many deserving teachers out there, and this is just affirmation that what educators are doing really does make a difference in the lives of children.”
Nominating student Elena Starcher submitted several paragraphs to Star 105.5 explaining why she thought Mrs. Strebel deserved the award. She wrote that a “teacher of the month” is someone who “hosts Dance Party Fridays every week in the classroom during the lunch hour,” “teaches the curriculum in the most enticing way possible,” and “whose life textbook is a story made up of colors.”
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The “Teacher of the Month” contest is based on the quality of individual submissions rather than number of nominations. Winners receive $100 and are automatically entered into the Home State Bank’s “Teacher of the Year” award announced at the end of the school year. The “Teacher of the Year” grand prize is a new iPad. For more information or to nominate your favorite McHenry County teacher, go to http://www.star105.com//common/more.php?m=33&r=4.
CAPTION: Home State Bank’s Bobbie Novak (right) presents the “Teacher of the Month” award to Belinda Strebel (center), a seventh-grade teacher at Bernotas Middle School. At left is nominating student and eighth-grader Elena Starcher.
