Lake Havasu Unified School District teachers and staff were honored as teacher of the year and other awards were given out.
The awards are handed out annually in the spring to honor the work and contributions of staff and educators within the district. Rebecca Stone, the school superintendent, said community members, colleagues, parents, and students had the chance to nominate a teacher or staff member to win. Awards and gift packages donated by local businesses and organizations were handed out to the award recipients at the March 12th Governing Board meeting.
The first award — Support Staff of the Year — was given to Kristin Mortenson, an office assistant who works at Lake Havasu High School. Stone said Mortenson was selected for her contributions, including mentoring students who serve as teacher assistants, developing a school-wide copy service, and helping substitute teachers.
The next award handed out was the Rookie of the Year award, which was given to Oro Grande Classical Academy teacher Avalon Verdone, a Lake Havasu High School alum who returned to the district to teach three years ago.
Teachers of the Year from each of the eight schools were also honored. Michelle Budden, Kelsey Kendrick, Julie Zemojtel, Tamara Cornell, Sage Best, Breanne Loutherback, Courtney Zampogna, and Allison Finnegan were chosen.
Of the eight teachers, Zampogna was selected as the District Teacher of the Year and will represent the district at the state level. A first-grade teacher at Starline Elementary School, Zampogna was selected by a committee of previous winners who did a blind screening to select the top teacher.
(pictured left to right: Kelsey Kendrick, Avalone Verdone, Breanne Loutherback, Tamara Cornell, Michelle Budden, Courtney Zampogna, Kristin Mortenson, Julie Zemojtel,and Sage Best; missing is Allison Finnegan)