2 Lakota teachers, principal earn Excellence Awards
Melissa Riehle, Ellen Bowmann, Mary Brophy were honored.
WEST CHESTER, LIBERTY TWPS. — The top two Lakota instructors — and a school principal — from this school year were surprised recently by district officials who visited them to reveal they had won honors in front of their students and others.
The annual Lakota Educator of Excellence Awards, co-sponsored by the Northern Cincinnati Foundation, recognize two teachers and a school building administrator in a long-running tradition each school year for Butler County’s largest school system.
This year’s winners are Melissa Riehle, second-grade teacher at Wyandot Early Childhood School; Ellen Bowmann, special education teacher at Lakota East High School; and Mary Brophy, principal at Hopewell Early Childhood School.
Both teachers received $1,000 grants for classroom materials. The school administrative award includes no money.
The springtime ritual of surprising the winners included their families and students as well as Lakota officials, including some school board members, who popped into the schools for the announcement and presentation of the awards.
Lakota Interim Superintendent Robb Vogelmann said, “As always, this year’s honorees are model educators and represent the qualities we appreciate in so many of our teachers, administrators and support staff across Lakota.”
“We appreciate the ongoing partnership with the Northern Cincinnati Foundation to continue this great tradition,” said Vogelmann.
Riehle, who in her 17 years at Lakota has also served the Independence and Woodland school communities, was applauded by several of her colleagues for being not just a teacher for young learners, but a mentor to her fellow educators, said district officials.
Her announcement ceremony included a group hug from some of her Wyandot students.
Sara Mosteller, a Lakota parent and community liaison, said Riehle “pursues professional learning opportunities to continue to improve her own skills and has not allowed the thief of time to steal her joy of being in the classroom”
According to Lakota officials, Riehle was repeatedly commended for her personalized approach to teaching, including handling difficult behavior challenges and special learning needs “with compassion and excellence.”
She was recognized for her intentional effort to make realworld connections, namely through frequent class visitors and her participation in the “Global Read Aloud” to connect her students with people all around the world.
Riehle is also an avid supporter of the community’s annual Martin Luther King student contest, coaching and supporting many winners over the years.
On the cusp of her retirement, principal Brophy has worked her entire 35-year career at Lakota. Her current post as principal at Hopewell ECS was preceded by positions at two other Lakota schools as an ESL and special education tutor, reading specialist, second-grade teacher, assistant principal and principal at Wyandot.
Brophy was described by those who nominated her as the epitome of a hands-on and “lead-by-example” type of leader who wears many different hats.