(Lander, WY) – Three Lander educators were recognized at the November 19 Lander school board meeting last night, for receiving the Wyoming School Boards Association (WSBA) Champion of Education awards.
Recipients included Mildred ‘Millie’ Abernathy, Leslie Voxland and Kathy Hitt.
The award recognizes those who have made an “outstanding contribution to the improvement of education” in their local district.
FCSD #1 school board Vice Chairman Scott Jensen presented the awards to the educators, who were each nominated by the board. The WSBA accepted all three of the board’s nominations, which Jensen said is the most Champion of Education awards that have ever been given to one district in the same year.
“This is in recognition of Miss Abernathy’s long service to the students in our district,” Jensen explained, adding that Abernathy is “universally beloved by the children she has taught,” and has “made a vast impact on so many lives.”
“Her leadership has been instrumental in having that school (Gennett Peak Elementary) be the success it has been for so long,” Jensen went on to say about Voxland and her years working as a principal in the district. “Likewise, she has touched so many lives. I know from personal experience (with) Leslie, (that) her calm demeanor is able to dissipate so many emotional situations, and she is just a fantastic leader.”
“It would be hard for us to find somebody that has served her community longer, and in more capacities than Kathy has,” Jensen then shared about Hitt, who was attending her final school board meeting as a board member last night. “She has been an administrator, a principal and various positions here in Lander and (has been) on the school board for a long time.”
“I know from working with Kathy her vast institutional knowledge will be greatly missed,” Jensen commented before presenting Hitt with a thank-you gift from the board. “Thank you, Kathy, for your service to this board.”