Kappa Delta Pi’s newly inducted officers, from left, Rachael Pitts, Dr. Paige Rapson, Dr. Shane Brown, Lauren Bishop, Sammie Kate Eason and Miranda Atkins
The Lee University chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, an international honor society for educators, recently recognized four local teachers for their demonstration of excellence in the classroom at its annual “Honor an Educator” event. The club also honored its new officers and two retiring sponsors. The ceremony was held in Lee’s Helen DeVos College of Education.
Each year, the education honor society highlights educators who have made impactful contributions to both their students and the community. This year’s honorees included Lea Ann Burk, Lisa Eason, Wendy Hurst, and Ritchie Stevenson.
Serving 35 years in the education profession, Ms. Burk is a retired educator from Hamilton County Schools. During her career, she worked as a teacher, curriculum director, assistant principal, and principal. She has also served as an adjunct professor at Lee. Ms. Burk has been honored as a Blue Ribbon Principal by the U.S. Secretary of Education, a Social Studies Teacher of the Year for Tennessee, a Leadership Fellow, and was given the Resolution for Academic Performance by the Hamilton County Commission.
Ms. Eason currently serves as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher and instructional coach with Cleveland City Schools. During her 19 years as an educator, she has worked as a pre-school teacher, ESL assistant, and 3rd and 5th grade teacher. She is a member of Tennessee Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, has served as the Teacher Leader for the ESL department of Cleveland City Schools, and has been a presenter at local and regional ESL conferences.
Ms. Hurst is a special education inclusion teacher at Hopewell Elementary School. She has been an educator for 11 years and has served as a special education assistant after working in senior assisted living for 10 years. After entering the special education field as an assistant, Ms. Hurst earned a Master of Arts in Teaching Special Education from Liberty University.
Mr. Stevenson has served 36 years in the education profession and is currently the principal of Lake Forest Middle School for Bradley County Schools. He is currently serving his second term as president of the Tennessee Association of Middle Schools and is also president for the Cleveland/Bradley County Teachers Federal Credit Union. Mr. Stevenson’s awards include the Food City Golden Apple Award, Tennessee Association of Student Councils Administrator of the Year Award, Bradley County Schools Principal of the Year, Professional Educators Administrator of the Year, and Tennessee Association of Middle Schools East Tennessee Administrator of the Year.
The honor society also honored Dr. Laura Anderson, professor of education, and Carla Meyers, field experiences office assistant, who are retiring from the Helen DeVos College of Education after 27 years and 33 years, respectively. Both served 25 years as KDP sponsors.
“These educators exemplify all the ideals that KDP holds true, and therefore, we wanted to take the time to honor them for all they have given and continue to give to the profession of education,” said Dr. Shane Brown, director of Lee’s Teacher Education Program and Field Experiences.
KDP also inducted new officers for the 2023-2024 year. The officers include Sammie Kate Eason, president; Lauren Bishop, vice president; Miranda Atkins, foundation representative; Rachael Pitts, secretary; Dr. Paige Rapson, historian; Dr. Debbie Rosenow, treasurer; and Dr. Brown, university counselor.
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.
Kappa Delta Pi honored community educators, from left, Wendy Hurst, Lisa Eason, Lea Ann Burk and Ritchie Stevenson