Top Kane County educators named
The top Kane County educators were honored Friday night by the Regional Office of Education at the 39th annual Educator of the Year Awards Banquet in St. Charles.
Carol Mertes, first-grade teacher at Johnson Elementary School in East Aurora Unit District 131, won the Educator of the Year Award.
Stephanie Ramstad, principal of Carpentersville Middle School in Community Unit District 300, was named School Administrator of the Year.
Committees of teachers and administrators nominated candidates based on their leadership qualities, and involvement in their communities and schools.
Among the 2014 recipients were Teacher of the Year winners: Kathleen Bujak, an elementary language arts/social studies/math/science teacher at District 300's Cambridge Lakes Charter School; Edward Johnson Jr., special education teacher in math/science/social studies/language arts at Waldo Middle School in East Aurora Unit District 131; and Ame Kazmer, a certified special education-English teacher at Geneva High School in Geneva Unit District 304.
Awards were given in several other categories, including: Regional Superintendent, Kelly Lynn Uehlein, fifth grade English as a Second Language teacher at Lakewood School in District 300; Early Career Educator, Julie Newquist, an elementary teacher at Country Trails Elementary in Central Unit District 301; Educational Service Personnel, Julio Rubieles, head custodian at St. Charles North High School in St. Charles Unit District 303; Classroom Preschool Teacher, Pamela Maxey, preschool teacher in Early Childhood Development in East Aurora Unit District 131; Student Support Personnel, Mary Ellen Adkins, speech language pathologist at Alice Gustafson Elementary in Batavia Unit District 101.
Educators retiring this school year also were honored.