Last year Bishop O’Gorman Catholic Schools (BOGCS) partnered with the Catholic Community Foundation for Eastern South Dakota (CCFESD) to recognize teachers of excellence in Catholic education. The Teacher of Excellence program celebrates excellent teachers at all levels.
This program, which kicked off its second year on January 15, was created through the generous donation of an anonymous donor family to support the hard work and dedication of outstanding teachers.
“Last year a grateful family came to the CCFESD with an idea to support the quality Catholic education that BOGCS provides by thanking the teachers who are critical to the students’ experience,” said Mark Conzemius, president of the CCFESD. “In particular, they wanted to recognize quality, high performing teachers, who go above and beyond, affirming the faith-filled, dedicated, committed, and extraordinary educators who represent the faculty at BOGCS.”
The BOGCS principals developed criteria for excellence in teaching and came up with a list of eight critical attributes of excellence in Catholic education that they see within BOGCS.
- Lives our Faith-Filled Mission and Values
- Positive Relationship Builder with Students, Parents, and Staff
- Promotes Student Academic Excellence
- Selfless Team Player that Goes Above and Beyond
- Lifelong Reflective Learner
- Serves as an Educational Leader among the Staff
- Incorporates Innovative Ideas While Remaining Willing to Fail
- Dedicated to the Profession
Educators are nominated by their colleagues with the aid of others, including parents, who provide testimony of their excellence. Nominations are processed by the Office of Catholic Schools at the Diocese of Sioux Fall. From there, a selection committee made up of retired and former Catholic school faculty members and principals will select the nominees. Nominees’ names and schools are kept anonymous during the voting process so the selection committee can focus exclusively on the written content provided for each nominee.
The nominees will be announced at the end of the current school year (2020-2021), and winners will be announced and awarded a $10,000 check at the start of the 2021-2022 school year.
