JASA SANTOS Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Thursday, May 8, 2008 12:00 am
A Casper educator has been named a recipient of the Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Awards, a Wyoming teacher recognition program.
Jenny Johnson, a third-grade teacher at Crest Hill Elementary, was one of 10 recipients of the award. Johnson was the only Casper educator honored this year.
Teachers who win an Arch Coal award are given a trophy, plaque and a $2,500 cash award. The community is asked to nominate teachers for this award, and nominated teachers are judged by their peers.
"It's a true honor," Johnson said. "It's a very humbling experience."
Johnson credited her fellow teachers for helping her to earn the award. All the hard work she and other teachers put in is really for their students, she said.
"I am surrounded by great teachers," Johnson said. "It's very easy to put in the hard work and the long hours when you're surrounded by such quality teachers."
Arch Coal is one of the nation's largest coal producers. Its Thunder Basin Coal Company employs more than 1,200 people in Wyoming, and Thunder Basin's Black Thunder and Coal Creek mines sell more than 90 million tons of coal per year.
The program is supported by the Wyoming Department of Education, the Wyoming Education Association, Taco John's, Loaf 'n Jug and the Wyoming library community.
"Many say a teacher has the most important job in America," Steven Leer, Arch Coal chairman and CEO, said in a press release. "When a teacher's product is the successful teaching of a child, who can deny the importance of a classroom teacher? Arch Coal is proud to honor these teachers."
Reach education reporter Jasa Santos at (307) 266-0593 or at Jasa.Santos@trib.com.