May 7, 2014 at 2:53 p.m.
Local students, teacher honored by Herb Kohl foundation
Local students, teacher honored by Herb Kohl foundation
By Kayla Thomason-
Each year the foundation awards 100 graduating high school students with $1,000 Excellence Scholarships.
Those who have received the Excellence Scholarship have demonstrated excellence in academics, have a high motivation to achieve, show strong promise to succeed in college and after, and have displayed a broad range of activity and leadership outside the academic setting, according to the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation website.
Natalie Miller, a senior at the Three Lakes High School, received one of the Kohl Excellence Scholarships.
"It's a really incredible honor, I'm super thankful for the people who wrote letters of recommendation for me and who just supported me through the whole process," Miller said.
The high school offered its six valedictorians a chance to apply for the scholarship.
Miller will be attending Nicolet College and intends to continue on to the University of Northwestern Saint Paul to complete her bachelor's degree in nursing.
Karie Blemke, JWMS Language Arts teacher, received the Fellowship Award. She has taught seventh grade for the past six years and eighth grade this year.
The foundation presents the fellowship award to 100 Wisconsin teachers each year. Their schools also receive a $1,000 grant.
Teachers who receive the Fellowship Award are chosen for their "superior ability to inspire a love of learning in their students, their ability to motivate others, and for their leadership and service within and outside the classroom," according to the foundation website.
"The recognition is nice but I definitely know that in education there's been a lot of people here in Rhinelander that have helped me achieve and become a successful educator," Blemke said.
Will Losch, principal at NCES and NCSS, nominated Blemke for the Fellowship Award.
"I worked with her last year. (She) and I were colleagues on the same team at the middle school and so I worked pretty closely with her and just observing how she goes about her craft it seemed like a kind of a no-brainer to be honest," Losch said. "I felt she was deserving of the award so I nominated her."
One of the things that stood out to Losch about Blemke's teaching style was the way she communicates with students.
"She really finds the perfect balance between being empathetic and understanding in relating to middle school students but she doesn't do it by necessarily talking like a middle school kid," he said.
Losch also pointed out that Blemke will listen to students, understand their needs, guide them to success and focus on learning.
She is "learner centered," uses assesment tools and gets the children involved in the learning process, according to Losch.
"It was definitely a rewarding and wonderful feeling, I was thankful to see that I had made an impact on students and colleagues," Blemke said.
She said her students were excited for her when she explained the significance of the award.
Losch says there are a lot of strong teachers in the district and he wants them to be recognized for that.
Each year 85 students receive the $1,000 Initiative Scholarship.
Recipients have to demonstrate exceptional initiative in the classroom and have a strong chance of succeeding in college and after, but not yet have other academic-based scholarships.
Two students from
the surrounding area received this award.
"The Herb Kohl Foundation targeted [Rhinelander High School] and said here's an opportunity and please select a student who meets these criteria that you believe best exemplifies the spirit of the award," said principal David Ditzler.
Ditzler, the administers, counselors and teachers sat down and looked at the criteria. It wasn't hard for them to pick Destiny Baitinger.
"Everything we know about her, the word 'initiative' exemplifies who she is," Ditzler said.
Baitinger was immensely grateful to be nominated, let alone receive the scholarship.
"It was really humbling because it was a lot of different staff members that recommended me and then to be presented the award by Herb Kohl himself, it was really just overwhelming. I was really blessed and thankful for it, it's a big honor," Baitinger said.
One of the requirements for the scholarship involves overcoming adversity.
According to school officials, Baitinger has done just that.
For the majority of Baitinger's life, her mom raised her and her three brothers by herself, while going to school.
"Something that really helped me overcome a lot of [the adversity] is seeing her strength to make sure there was always a push for us to get a good education and to do something with our life," Baitinger said.
She plans to attend the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse and eventually become a lawyer. She thinks her undergraduate degree will be in the business field but she is still undecided.
Baitinger is also the president of the Student Council.
The other student who received the Initiative Scholarship was Kayla Fraley, a student at Crandon High School.
She was unavailable to comment.
The committee that votes on the Excellence Scholarship and Fellowship recipients is made up of representatives of education-related associations, civic leaders, and the program's co-sponsors.
The sponsors are The Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation, Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and regional Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESA) as well as some other education-related associations.
Retired U.S. Senator Herb Kohl created the Kohl Foundation Scholarship and Fellowship program.
According to the foundation website, as of August 2013, the organization has awarded $8.6 million to Wisconsin students, educators and schools.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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