The Thompson Education Association, the union representing educators in the Thompson School District, held its Crystal Apple award ceremony Friday night, recognizing teachers and staff in the district who’ve had outsized impacts on students and colleagues over the last year.
The event was a return to the awards after a year’s hiatus, and featured new categories to differentiate the awards from the staff recognition ceremony offered by the Thompson Education Foundation, a distinct entity that serves as a nonprofit partner of the school district.
Categories focused on more abstract contributions to student wellbeing, including awards for “student advocate” and “advocate for the profession.”
Winners received a crystal trophy shaped like an apple, where the ceremony gets its name, as well as $50 in prizes from local businesses.
“We wondered ‘how could Crystal Apple look different than the Educator of the Year thing that Thompson Education Foundation does really well?’ We didn’t want to do it twice,” said Andy Crisman, TEA member and former president, and a music teacher at Mountain View High School. “So we brainstormed and decided that we should recognize people for doing some of the things that we know make a difference in the lives of our kids and in our profession.”
Winners included: Dayna Campbell, an instructional coach at Carrie Martin and Namaqua Elementary Schools in the category of Teacher Mentor; Sarah Clegern, a kindergarten teacher at Ivy Stockwell Elementary for Student Success Advocate; Justin Greene, a math teacher at Riverview School for Early Career Educator; Sarah Milner instructional coach Jill Date and Berthoud High School social studies teacher Kayla Steele, who won the Advocate for the Profession award.
The ceremony also recognized classified staff, in association with Thompson Education Support Professionals Association (TESPA), a classified staff union recently conditionally recognized by the Thompson School Board.
High Plains School Secretary Nancy Peyton was named Education Support Professional of the Year.
Finally, the “Inclusion Master” category had two winners, Mountain View High School PE teacher Jill Fitzpatrick and Truscott Elementary School English Language Development teacher Louise Burgess.
“You can imagine how difficult it was to select a Crystal Apple winner among these two amazing individuals,” said Kim McKee, a special education teacher at Mountain View High School who presented the award. “So we didn’t. They both will receive a Crystal Apple Award.”
The event took place on International Workers Day, offering an opportunity to reflect on labor activity that had achieved such victories as the eight hour workday.
“The belief that there should be time for work, time for rest, and time for life,” Alex Lindsey, TEA civic action chair, said of the concept. “It sounds obvious now, but it was hard fought. In the late 1800s, workers were expected to work 10, 12, sometimes 14 hours a day or more. The push for an eight-hour workday was central to the labor movement.”
Lindsey got a laugh from the crowd by pointing out that for educators, an eight-hour workday was still sometimes fanciful. Lesson planning, extra-duty responsibilities, grading and emails encroach on the off-work hours, he said.
“So why does the eight-hour workday still matter?” he asked. “Because it represents something bigger than the clock. It represents the idea that your time has value, that your wellbeing matters. That’s where groups like TEA make a difference. We carry forward the same spirit behind May Day: the belief that when people stand together, they can make meaningful change.”
