Teachers Honored by Johnston Schools Foundation for Work With Talented Students, Band Program, Making Math Fun

It could be argued that all Johnston teachers are outstanding.

They all dedicate their time to shaping the young minds of our community.

This year, three will be honored by the Johnston Community Schools Foundation at the annual .

Each teacher being honored, Kathy Paul and Jake Randall from and Josh Morgan from and Elementary schools, has shown dedication to students and continuing to improve curriculum in their specialties.

Kathy Paul, who leads the Johnston ELP program for talented and gifted students, finds opportunities to teach her students outside the classroom as well as inside.

In September, she took students to the Iowa Court House for the . Just last month she took a large group of to witness the legislative process.

Paul joined the district 27 years ago, according to a Des Moines Register article. Over that time the program she's led has grown by leaps and bounds.

“Seeing this program grow and change to meet the needs of the students has been the most significant aspect to me of all my time here,” Paul said. “Johnston is a community I’ve invested a lot of time and energy in, but I’ve also gotten so much back.”

Josh Morgan, who teaches fifth grade band to students at Timber Ridge and Horizon Elementary School, told the Register he sees himself in the district for the long haul after only seven years.

Morgan received a Johnston Foundation grant for his beginners band initiative to give students that wanted to try band the opportunity to do so by purchasing instruments for students to use.

Morgan's testimony was featured in a .

Jake Randall, an eighth-grade math teacher at Johnston Middle School, told the Register he was "really shocked and surprised" to be selected by the Foundation as an outstanding teacher.

Randall told the Register he puts emphasis on building a rapport with students as a way to relate to them on a different level.

“The memories that I’ll take with me of Johnston someday will be all of the teachable moments that we had in my classroom,” he told the Register. “There will always be times when we could simply ignore the situation at hand and continue on with the day’s curriculum and lesson, but it’s those moments that can really make an impact on a child’s thinking and their lives.”

The Foundation Banquet will also honor . 

Jerry Quick, a 1980 graduate of the school district, will be inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame, while Gary Busby, a graduate of the district and educator in the district for 35 years, will be inducted into the Educator Hall of Fame.

Current students Scott Syroka, Kaitlyn Aldrich and Mackensie Noble will be honored as outstanding students.

The Hall of Fame Banquet will take place at 6 p.m. at on Friday, April 13. The program includes a special performance by the Johnston Middle School eighth-grade Opus Choir.

Tickets are available at the Johnston or the for $25 per person.

Learn more about the Foundation
The Johnston Community Schools Foundation is a non-profit and non-governmental organization providing resources for students to promote education excellence.

The Foundation funds school-based learning programs to benefit students directly.

Each year the Foundation awards grants to enhance classroom instruction, this work was recently documented in video promoting the Foundations work.

Other Stories On Foundation Honorees:

•