Kappa Delta Pi Honors Local Educators

The Lee University chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, an international honor society for educators, recognized local teachers for their demonstration of excellence in the classroom. The ceremony was held in the Helen DeVos College of Education on Lee’s campus. 

Each year, the education honor society highlights educators who have made impactful contributions to both their students and the community. The honorees this year include Betsy Gilbert, Amber Montgomery, Stephanie Ortego, Emily Raper, Sarah Sausville, Ron Spangler, and Andi Wendorf. 

Ms. Gilbert teaches mathematics at Bradley Central High School. During her 23 years in the teaching profession, she has served for 10 years as chair of the BCHS mathematics department and worked as a mathematics teacher at Bradley Junior High School (now Ocoee Middle School). In 2011 and 2015, Ms. Gilbert received the BCHS Teacher of the Year Award. She has been named the Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction and local radio station WCLE Teacher of the Month. She served as the teacher representative in the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers for the National ACT Review in 2012. Ms. Gilbert is also the recipient of the 2012 BCHS Above and Beyond Award. 

Ms. Montgomery is currently a second grade teacher and a member of the leadership team at Donald P. Yates Primary. Before Yates, she taught kindergarten and first and second grades at Hopewell Elementary. She has been honored as the 2011 Hopewell Teacher of the Year and the 2015 Yates Teacher of the Year during her decade of serving in the teaching profession. Ms. Montgomery is a former vice president of Kappa Delta Pi and a recipient of the Tennessee Tech University Current Educator Award. 

Ms. Ortego, serving 11 years in the education profession, is a special education teacher and chair of the special education department at Lake Forest Middle School. She is a former behavior intervention specialist at the Family Resource Agency, a non-profit community service organization in Cleveland. Ms. Ortego holds memberships with the Tennessee Association of Middle School Teachers, the Association for Middle Level Education, and the Tennessee Association of Student Councils. In addition to being the former LFMS girls’ basketball coach, Ms. Ortego is currently the advisor for student council at LFMS. 

In her fifth year in the education profession, Ms. Raper teaches seventh grade English Language Arts at Cleveland Middle School. She has previously taught sixth grade science and social studies at CMS. She serves on the board of trustees of the AMLE, as a member of the TAMST, and as a member of the Association of American Educators, in addition to many other leadership positions. Ms. Raper is the 2016 School Teacher of the Year and the 2016 District Teacher of the Year. 

Ms. Sausville teaches second grade at Michigan Avenue Elementary and is in her seventh year in the education profession. She previously taught fifth grade at Arnold Elementary. She is the 2014-15 Teacher of the Year and is a former assistant coach of the Cleveland High School girls’ basketball team. 

Serving almost 40 years in the education profession, Mr. Spangler is the current principal of Ocoee Middle School. He previously served as assistant principal of OMS, a teacher and coach at Charleston High School, and a teacher and coach at LFMS. Mr. Spangler holds memberships with the National Education Association, the Tennessee Education Association, and AMLE, among other education-focused organizations. Mr. Spangler coached baseball and basketball for 20 years, in addition to serving as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Huddle Leader. 

Ms. Wendorf is a science teacher at CHS and is the Cleveland City Schools Science teacher leader for grades nine through 12. She previously taught science at Murray County High School in Chatsworth. Ms. Wendorf is a member of the Tennessee Science Teachers Association and is the 2011 Teacher of the Year. During her 14 years in the education profession, Ms. Wendorf has worked with the CHS marching band and colorguard since she graduated from CHS. She has also served as head director of the CHS colorguard and both the CHS and CMS winterguards since 2003. 

During the ceremony, new students were inducted into the honor society. These students include Chloe Bennett, Kate Bosch, Michelle Brainerd, Carena Casey, Macy Cass, Kinsey Chicowitz, Sara Cuttle, Jaclyn DeVries, Stephanie Edwards, Kaitlyn Falstad, Clay Fissel, Jade Forshee, Sarah Freeman, Sarah Gentry, Hannah Gilstrap, Sarah Grady, Katie E. Hass, Kayla Jaselskis, Anna Beth Jones, Megan Konyn, Brandon Leonard, Annie Martinie, Brandi Palmer, Elizabeth Rawson, Haley Roe, Nancy Scarborough, Maggie Stancliff, Sarah Sutherland, DeAnna Tallent, Rachel Walls, Aubrey Yowarsky, Caitlen Zettwoch. 

Kappa Delta Pi seeks to encourage high professional, intellectual, and personal standards and to recognize outstanding contributions in education. Founded in 1911, the society became an International Honor Society in Education in 1981. 

For more information on the honorees or Kappa Delta Pi, contact the Helen DeVos College of Education at 614-8175.