David Awe and Chris Graue with Graue Chevrolet, Grunder, and John Radloff also with Graue.

Eric Grunder wins car giveaway in Graue Amazing Teacher contest

 

[December 14, 2020]   On Saturday afternoon, Graue Chevrolet in Lincoln hosted a covid-safe award ceremony when one of eight candidates became the owner of a GM certified pre-owned 2016 Chevrolet Cruze. The car was given as a result of the Graue sponsored Amazing Teacher contest.

The contest, began in the fall of 2019 and was intended to conclude at the end of the school year in May of 2020 with the winner of the car announced the following month. Then along came covid.

When Chris Graue, owner/general manager of the dealership, took the microphone to begin the final step of the Amazing Teacher award he began by thanking all those in attendance and reminding them that social distancing during the event was expected. He noted and thanked everyone present for arriving with face masks. Throughout the expansive service area at the dealership cocktail tables had been set up with the names of the eight nominees placed one on each table. The nominees and the guests they might have brought with them were expected to stay at their respective tables and not gather in mixed groups.

Graue explained that with the closure of schools in March of 2020 through the end of the school year, the decision had been made to put the contest on hold. When school resumed in the fall of 2020 the dealership decided to move forward with the completion of the contest and a goal of presenting the vehicle in time for the holiday season in December.

He commented on the impact the virus had on the teachers and their remarkable response. Graue noted that for the teachers “to stop, pivot and re-organize and change their game plan moving forward” had been a monumental task that they had handled very well. He asked for a round of applause for all the teachers.

Graue introduced two people within the dealership that had been instrumental in putting the Amazing Teacher program together, Graue’s business partner John Radloff, and Graue dealership associate David Awe. He explained that in 2019 the three had worked with local media to put together a promotion that would recognize the value of our local school teachers. Both Radloff and Awe had been ever present during the process and had attended each of the monthly awards.

To be eligible for the chance to win the 2016 Cruze, each of the eight teachers first won a monthly award. Each month, members of the community many of whom were students or student parents had the chance to nominate their favorite teacher via the dealership website. Those offering nominations were asked to fill in a comment box with a few short comments on why they felt the teacher they were nominating should be given the award.
 

At the end of each month, all the nominations were presented to a panel of judges. All the comments were read and considered, then one teacher from all the monthly nominees was selected to be the teacher of the month.

With the monthly winner selected, Graue, Radloff and Awe, then made surprise visits to the teacher at his or her school. During the visit, the teacher was given a $100 gift card from Graue to be used at their discretion. Graue would explain at each presentation that the teacher had the option to use the card to do something nice for him or herself, or they could use it for something for the classroom. Graue also explained the car presentation and said that the eight monthly winners would have a random chance to win the car.

The eight winners were:


Diane Bicknell

Kerry Burke

Jennifer Gouin

Eric Grunder

Emily Lund

Carly Powell

Shanna Schneider

Bev Wunderlin

On Saturday, there was a table set up with eight gift bags on it. Graue called the teachers up to the table one at a time.

Graue said that the monthly selections had been a difficult task. He said that there was an average of about 25 nominations per month and that there were many deserving nominees. He added that this final step would be a “random” process, which he found to be quite a relief as he would not want to have to choose between the eight remarkable teachers.

Teachers were called to the table of gift bags one at a time. Each teacher was invited to choose their own bag from the set of eight.

While at the table, Graue shared comments made in the nomination forms.

He began with Shanna Schneider who teaches kindergarten, first and second grade. Among the comments made about Schneider was that she was “hands down one of the hardest working teachers I have ever known.”

Eric Grunder, an instructor at Lincoln College was called forward. Comments included, “Mr. Grunder teaches in a way that makes biology easy to understand. He is very honest and kind hearted.”

Bev Wunderlin was up next. One comment from the nominations said, “She has made a difference in the lives of both of my girls. She has built strong and lasting relationships with her kids. She makes them feel loved and important.”

Kerry Burke was called to the front. Graue explained that Burke had been a local kindergarten teacher when she won the award but had left her school at the end of the school year. One comment made about the teacher was “Ms Burke shared her love of education with my son and he has thrived since he has had her as a teacher.”

Lincoln Community High School English teacher Jennifer Gouin was the next one to come to the table. Of the many comments made about the teachers throughout the day, the comments made by a student in Gouin’s nomination were perhaps the most bittersweet. “My senior year of high school, I lost my sister, niece and a nephew in a fire. My senior year I had Ms. Gouin in three classes. Ms. Gouin became a mother figure to me.”

Emily Lund is a kindergarten teacher at Carroll Catholic. Graue read a number of comments made in the nominations for Lund and ended saying his favorite comment was “Because I know she loves me.”

Carly Powell, a third grade teacher at Mount Pulaski Grade School was called to the table. One comment made said, “My daughter has said, I think she will be my favorite teacher forever.”

Diane Bicknell from New Holland-Middletown School in Middletown was the last teacher to be called to the table. “She is a perfect example of what a teacher should be” was one of several comments made about Bicknell.

With the final introduction and selection of gift bag made, Graue then explained that each bag included a number of gift items. Also inside the bag each teacher would find a separate small bag with a key fob in it. The teachers were asked to retrieve and hold the key fob in their hand until called upon.

Graue would call on each teacher and invite them to step forward and see if the fob they held would unlock the doors of the Cruze. One at a time each teacher was called upon starting with Bicknell.

Six teachers tried to no avail to unlock the doors of the car. Then came the seventh teacher. Eric Grunder was invited to try his fob and looked on in disbelief as the lights on the car flashed at him indicating that the doors had unlocked.

Graue congratulated Grunder and thanked all the other teachers. He explained that Grunder would be taken to the office to complete the paperwork that would officially make him the owner of the vehicle, and he would drive it out of the dealership when it was all done.

After the official ceremony had ended Grunder said he was delighted to have been the winner of the car and had a specific plan for it. He explained that he was going to give the car he owned already to his son, and Grunder would keep the 2016 Cruze as his new daily driver. He explained that his son’s car had more than 300,000 miles. The young Grunder is going to school and working and needs something more reliable. His dad’s old car would be an upgrade for him. Eric Grunder would also have an upgrade, and the pleasure of knowing that he was able to put his son in a better vehicle thanks to Graue Chevrolet and those who had nominated him.

For Grunder there was one more added bonus. He said that he had been surprised and humbled by the nomination, and would be personally expressing appreciation to those who nominated him. But, in addition to this, it was gratifying to see that a couple of the teachers winning the monthly awards are his former students. He said to see those young people succeeding and having an impact on their students was an added reward for his efforts as a college instructor.

Congratulations to Grunder for his win and a big thank-you to Graue Chevrolet for recognizing and acknowledging the value of our local teachers. Most of all thank-you to all our remarkable teachers, nominated or not, you are all doing important work and it is appreciated.

[Nila Smith]