6 I The Lovell Chronicle I April 15, 2010 www.LovellChronicle.com
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r banquet hon0rees
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First-grade teacher also loves learning
BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
After teaching first
grade for 13 years, the Big
Horn County School Dis-
trict No. 1 Outstanding Ed-
ucator of the Year has no
desire to stop. While teach-
ing young students can be
a challenge, she said the
rewards far outweigh the
challenges, and she learns
a lot from the students.
The Lovell Area Cham-
ber of Commerce honored
Chris Townsend Friday
night as the outstanding
educator for District One.
Townsend is married to
Wes Townsend and they
have two children, Landon
and Teagan, who both at-
tend Rocky Mountain Ele-
mentary School.
After earning a degree
in human services from
Eastern Montana College,
Townsend said she decid-
ed she wanted to teach and
began studying at North-
west College, finishing with
an education degree from
Montana State University-
Billings.
She began student
teaching fifth-graders and
took a job at Rocky Moun-
tain Elementary School
teaching first grade the
next year.
"Once I got into first
grade, I was hooked," she
said. "It's so rewarding, the
growth you see."
First-graders come with
limited skills using the al-
phabet and making sounds,
and they leave reading
chapter books, Townsend
said. The alphabet is like
a code, Townsend said, and
once they begin to break the
code, they want more than
picture books, she said.
"Now the pictures are
in their head and they find
out how rewarding reading
Chris Townsend
can be," she said. BHCSD1
had received Reading First
grant funding in past years,
but funding is being discon-
tinued this year, she said.
However, teachers gained
knowledge in teaching
strategies and the district
received a lot of helpful ma-
terials that will continue to
help them teach reading ef-
fectively in the future.
Townsend said she also
likes to teach first grade
because the students are
young enough that they
need some emotional sup-
port, she said, and their
teacher is still a big part of
their life.
"If teacher says it, it
must be true," Townsend
smiled. "It's really cute."
While trying to ignite
a spark of a love for learn-
ing, Townsend said she also
works with some apprehen-
sive students to help them
like coming to school.
"I let them know they're
loved and welcomed and
we're going to learn and
have fun," Townsend said.
Townsend's students
are currently learning about
the life dyeles of a butterfly,
bigger words including con-
tractions and double-digit
addition. She said double-
digit addition makes the
students feel like they're
doing more advanced math,
and are beginning to under-
stand the mechanics of ad-
dition.
Townsend was unable
to attend the banquet Fri-
day because of previous
plans. RMES principal Kar-
ma Sanders, who nominat-
ed Townsend for the award,
said she did so because
Townsend fit all the criteria
the state asks for and does
a great job at RMES.
"She's a good teach-
er. She's respected by par-
ents, students and her col-
leagues and she is involved
in the community," Sanders
said. "She has a passion for
what she does and she cares
about kids."
Each building in the
district nominated an edu-
cator and the final selection
was made by the district
administration team, Sand-
ers said.
Townsend said she
was honored to receive the
award.
"It is an honor to be rec-
ognized for something you
love to do, something that's
fun to do," she said. "I ap-
preciate being able to work
in the district. This area
has some of the best kids
who are supported by the
best families."
"Year after year I al-
ways hope students learn
as much as I do," she said.
"Through each little idio-
syncrasy you can learn a
lot about kids. It's very re-
warding.
"It's hard to put into
words. It's more of a feeling
than something I can sum-
marize."
Wardell has special tie to special education
BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
When Big Horn County
School District No. 2's out-
standing educator began
teaching, it was after she
had learned about special
education while helping her
son navigate the steps in-
volved in receiving special
ed from an early age.
Lovell High School spe-
cial education teacher Kar-
en Wardell was honored at
the Lovell Area Chamber
of Commerce Banquet Fri-
day at the Lovell Commu-
nity Center. Wardell said
soon after her youngest son,
Eric, was born with an undi-
agnosed condition 25 years
ago, she was introduced to
the world of special educa-
tion.
"I started working with
the people at CRC and I
started thinking how appre-
ciative I was for the things
they were able to do to help
my son," she said. When her
three children were spend-
ing their days in school,
Wardell began working to-
ward a teaching degree.
After attending classes
at a few different schools,
Wardell gradua£ed with
a bachelor's degree in el-
ementary education and
K-12 special education. She
taught middle school for a
year before taking an open-
ing for a special education
teacher.
Later, she obtained a
master's degree in educa-
tion and was certified to
teach visually impaired stu-
dents. She has been teach-
ing at the district for 14
years.
As a special education
teacher, Wardell said she
has to work with all differ-
ent subjects and also help
kids deal with a variety of
disabilities. She said she of-
ten meets with teachers for
tutoring sessions for some
courses, like algebra II or
chemistry.
Another important role
of the special ed department
in high school is to help stu-
dents prepare for what is
coming after graduation,
Wardell said, whether a
Karen Wardell
student plans to go to col-
lege and study to be a nurse
or would like to find a local
job following high school.
She holds monthly
meetings to determine and
modify each student's In-
dividual Education Plan
(IEP) with the student and
his or her parents as well
as teachers, administrators
and outside agencies. Out-
side agencies could include
a disability program coordi-
nator from Northwest Col-
lege, a local employer or
someone from the depart-
ment of workforce services.
The DWS can help students
take advantage of state-
funded programs like the
vocational rehab program
and the youth employment
program, and the DWS also
has funds available for on-
the-job training and other
programs.
IEP meetings also fa-
cilitate pairing students
with local employers to gain
some on-the-job experience
and Wardell also sets up
job shadowing opportuni-
ties for students. The cur-
rent educational model in
Wyoming promotes giving
students with disabilities
the tools they need to sup-
port themselves after high
school better than in the
past, Wardell said.
The model is state-man-
dated, she said, but DWS
employees who attend IEP
meetings at districts around
the state have comment-
ed to Wardell that Lovell's
program sets a strong ex-
ample.
Wardell said there are
too many things that she
enjoys about helping stu-
dents to put into words, but
there are a few reasons why
she has stuck with special
ed over the years.
"I really enjoy the one-
on-one opportunities you
get to be with the kids," she
said. "It's a luxury general
education teachers don't
get to have."
She said special ed is
nice because students come
in as freshmen and they
usually stay in her class for
four years.
'Tou build relation-
ships and you get to know
them better as learners,
which is an advantage," she
said. 'You can follow their
growth."
She said she was "deep-
ly touched" to be selected
for the award and thanked
administrators, teachers,
para-educators, parents
and her family for support-
ing her. She acknowledged
her nominator and co-work-
er Nicole Minchow Blaine,
who Wardell said has men-
tored her just as much
as Wardell has mentored
Blaine and the two make a
good team.
"I once read that the
burn-out rate for special
education teachers is about
seven years. I'm at 14 and
holding and I plan on stay-
ing as long as they'll keep
me," she told the crowd at
Friday's banquet.
"My son might have
led me to this profession,
but that is not why I stay.
I stay because of the kids.
They are the reason I come
to work each day."
Wardell was raised in
Cowley and graduated from
Cowley High School. She
and her husband, Jeff, have
spent most of their mar-
riage in Lovell, along with a
few years in California, she
said. The couple has three
adult children, Eric, Chel-
sea and Chris.
DAVID PECK
Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Citizen Ray Peterson (left) and
District Two Outstanding Educator Karen Wardell (right) pose with Wyoming
State Auditor Rita Meyer following Friday's community banquet.
his 'field of dreams'
BY DAVID PECK
Ray Peterson could be
honored for many contri-
butions to the community:
town councilman, county
commissioner, Wyoming
Rural Development Coun-
cil, North Big Horn Hospi-
tal Foundation board, Big
Horn County CARES board,
LDS bishop, state senator
and owner and operator of
the Office Shop, among oth-
ers.
But on Friday night,
Peterson was honored as
the Outstanding Citizen of
north Big Horn County by
the Lovell Area Chamber
of Commerce for his dedica-
tion to the youth of the com-
munity. He was honored for
being the area's Mr. Base-
ball.
Peterson was nominat-
ed for the award by Chris
Pearson, who had three
boys go through the Lovell
baseball program years ago.
Pearson said she appreci-
ates the time Peterson has
spent on the new Ameri-
can Legion field in Cowley,
as well as the time organiz-
ing and coaching Babe Ruth
and Legion baseball.
"After reading Ray Pe-
terson's bio, it would be
feasible to nominate him
as Citizen of the Year for
many different years, and
for many different reasons,"
Pearson wrote. "I chose this
year because of a baseball
field you see when driving
north through Cowley. This
field is there because of Ray
Peterson and many, many
hours of work to make it
happen.
"I know that there were
many people involved, but
I also know that none of it
would have been accom-
plished had Ray not had this
dream and made it happen.
There were so many times
place to play. Ray has tak-
en away many of these un-
knowns, and besides creat-
ing this field for the teams,
he also coaches both a Babe
Ruth team and the Legion
team."
Pearson urged the com-
munity to join together to
"it is once again a given that if there
,are boys wanting to play baseball, the
opportunity is there for them e,
Chris Pearn
you could drive past, and he
would be the only one work-
ing."
Pearson praised Pe-
terson for reviving the se-
nior baseball leagues in the
area.
"As beautiful as this
field is going to be, it is
even more important what
Ray has done for the base-
ball program here in north-
ern Big Horn County," she
wrote. "He has brought it
back to life for the Babe
Ruth and Legion aged
young men in our area. It
is once again a given that
if there are boys wanting to
play baseball, the opportu-
nity is there for them.
"I had three boys go
through the Lovell base-
ball program, and with the
second and third sons it
was always an unknown
as to whether or not there
would be a team, a coach,
scheduled games and a
support senior league base-
ball in the area.
"I think of the famous
line from the movie "Field
of Dreams" where it was
said, 'If you build it, they
will come.' Ray has built
it, and it is up to us as a
community to come," she
wrote. "To come and cheer
on the teams, to come and
offer our help if it is need-
ed, and just to come and
be a part of Ray Peterson's
dream."
In accepting the award,
Peterson said it is em-
blematic of volunteerism
throughout the communi-
ty. He noted the tremen-
dous effort that went into
creating the Pryor Moun-
tain Wild Mustang Center
as one example.
Peterson said north
Big Horn County is a com-
munity of volunteers and
said many could be simi-
larly honored.
