Barbara Lindley and Sue Reeter first honorees in Mount Pulaski school recognition awards

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[February 23, 2016]  MOUNT PULASKI - The Mount Pulaski CUD No. 23 School Board honored Barbara Lindley and Sue Reeter Tuesday night as the first recipients of Educator of the Quarter and Support Staff of the Semester respectively.

According to school board member Deanne Mott, the board received 40 nominations from students, parents and employees of the school district. The board will be recognizing four educators and two support staff throughout each school year. “We are excited to recognize the excellence that is going on in our schools,” said Mott, speaking on behalf of the school board, who initiated these awards.

Lindley, the district’s first Educator of the Quarter, has taught Special Education at Mount Pulaski Grade School for 14 years. Lindley was very appreciative of the honor and offered this, “I’m not one who takes recognition very well. I say thank you, but I feel like we are all a team here. So it wasn’t really about me, it’s about our team together.”

Lindley hails from Illinois, but attended three years of high school in Indiana and graduated from Eastern Illinois University. She has taught a total of 22 years, which included a stint in Richmond, Virginia and a stop in Oakwood, Illinois. She and her husband, Scott, reside in Mount Pulaski and have been married 24 years. They are the parents of two children, Clayton, a freshman at Eastern Illinois University and Rylan, a seventh grade student at Mount Pulaski Grade School.

Lindley would also like to thank everyone that nominated her and everyone that she works with. One of the many people who nominated Lindley is Mary Ann Radtke.

Radtke, who is a third grade teacher at Mount Pulaski Grade School, calls her co-worker a “wonderful teacher” and added, “Barbara Lindley is a very compassionate and caring person. She goes over and beyond when it comes to helping her students. Her job requires her to work with many teachers to ensure that each of her students receive the necessary support, which she does well.”



This next recipient is also a woman who goes above and beyond on a daily basis and that woman is Sue Reeter. Reeter, the district’s first Support Staff of the Semester, is the Head Cook of the school’s fabulous cafeteria.

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Reeter was nominated by Mount Pulaski High School sophomore Jacob Mileham, who nominated Reeter because she is always so nice and a good cook.

Mileham explained how all the students were sent a link via email and they were able to take a survey and nominate a teacher and a faculty member.

One day last week, while Reeter was appropriately eating lunch, Superintendent Todd Hamm and Principal Terry Morgan came to the cafeteria to tell her she was the first recipient of this honor. “It’s a very nice honor to be the first one, to be thought of,” said Reeter, who is in her 21st year cooking up good food for those students.

Reeter was also recognized at the recent school board meeting, along with Lindley. Reeter explained, “Tuesday night I went to the school board meeting and I got a certificate and a $50 gift card to a business of my choice in Mount Pulaski. That was very nice. It’s not very often that you have a job that you really like. And I do like my job. I like my kids.”

Reeter and her husband, Randy, reside in Mount Pulaski and have been married nearly 37 years. They are the parents of three grown children, all married with children. Son Mark and his wife Amy have three children, daughter Sarah and her husband Matt have three children and daughter Laura and her husband Derek are having their second child born today.

Reeter will be on hand in the kitchen today and she plans on being done serving food in time for the arrival of the newest grandchild. Beaming she added, “It’s pretty exciting. I love being a grandma!”

Finally, Reeter says she loves getting to know the kids at school and she loves being involved in the school. “I’ve always loved doing things to help out,” said the woman who also makes a mean Monster Cookie, which is on the menu for today.

Helping out seems to be a common denominator for both of the inaugural recipients, who will also be able to see their names engraved in a plaque that will hang in each of the school offices. Congratulations to both of these wonderful women.

[Teena Lowery]

 

 

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