Local educators honored for work in schools

Beverly Miller’s skill as an art teacher is never more evident than when she is able to unlock talent in a student.

“I find out where their interests lie, and I can facilitate and guide them to a creative level,” said Miller, who is also in charge of the gifted and talented program at Wilson Memorial High School.

Miller was one of 10 educators from Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County who received a Dawbarn Education Award Tuesday night from the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge.

Established in 1992, the Dawbarn Awards honor educators in Waynesboro, Staunton and Augusta County who have ‘inspired, encouraged and fostered the education of young people,’ according to the foundation’s website.

Miller said she encourages students to try different types of art until they find one they like.

That could mean working with clay, painting or some other type of art the student enjoys, she said.

Wilson Memorial Principal Doug Shifflett said Miller’s skill also is shown when she teaches advanced and beginning art students.

Shifflett said Miller is able to teach the students of differing abilities at the same time in the same classroom.

Another of Tuesday night’s recipients was veteran R.E. Lee High teacher and band director Doug Lane.

Lane said upon hearing of his selection for a Dawbarn Award, “I was kind of shocked and floored.”
Lane, who has worked at R.E. Lee since 1988, said the challenge is to take students from learning fundamental music to being on a stage “and doing amazing things on a football field” with halftime shows at Lee games.

“There are times when I say, ‘I get paid to do this.’ When everything works and you see the final product, it is wonderful,” Lane said.

Christiana Shields, grants director for the Community Foundation, said this year’s 10 recipients were chosen from a field of 35 by a committee of former educators.

“The quality of nominees continues to improve as the awards have gotten more prominent,” said Shields.

She said nominations this year came from principals, superintendents, co-workers and others.

The Dawbarn Awards were started by a fund established by the late Waynesboro industrialist “Buz” Dawbarn. All of this year’s recipients received a cash award of $9,000.

Others honored Tuesday included:

• Rodney Bowers, physical education teacher and football coach at Stuarts Draft High School. Known not just as the football coach, but for countless numbers of students he has befriended and encouraged.

• Deborah D. Hawkins, language arts teacher, Stewart Middle School. Hawkins teaches seventh-grade language arts and is praised for connections with students as well as supporting them at sporting events.

• Deborah A. Winters, program director, Ride with Pride Inc. Since 1975, she has worked with special needs students in residential settings, treatment foster care and therapeutic riding programs. She currently runs Ride with Pride, which allows disabled children to enjoy a ride on an animal.

• Russ Laub, physical education teacher, Bessie Weller Elementary School. Laub works with all Weller teachers to make certain he integrates what they teach in his classes. He also organizes team-building activities for faculty and encourages them to be active after school.

• Brian Lundstrom, English teacher, Kate Collins Middle School. Lundstrom motivated honors English students by having them research, prepare and conduct a mock trial. He leads a committee that oversees the development of new teachers. He also started the All Pro Dad Program, which helps provide male role models for students in the Waynesboro Schools.

• Elizabeth Williams, agriculture education teacher, Fort Defiance High School. Williams secured a $16,000 grant last year and used the money to offer Fort Defiance classes including equine management, small animal care, floral design and landscaping design. She has worked with Blue Ridge Community College to offer the first dual enrollment and web-based horticulture class.

• Vermell Grant, assistant superintendent, Waynesboro Schools. Grant has risen from a student in the initial 1960s integration of the Waynesboro Schools to a teacher and principal and finally, assistant superintendent. She is now responsible for personnel and transportation.

• Julie McCray Turner, fourth-grade teacher, Hugh K. Cassell Elementary School. In addition to the regular school curriculum, Turner teaches real life skills, such as weaving scarves on looms and growing herbs used in cooking. She also has been involved in Cassell’s talent shows and musical productions, provided after-school tutoring and helped construct a fish pond complete with plants, birdfeeders, fish and snails.