Proper Gratitude

At the Indiana teacher of the Year banquet last Friday night, I had the opportunity to give some remarks*, and I began by observing that the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius devoted the first chapter of his Meditations to thanksgiving through remembrance as he called to mind the family members, teachers, and friends who had shaped his life.  Even in the extended space of a blog post, I doubt I could cover all those to whom I owe a debt of gratitude.  There will be another post about family and close friends, but in this piece, I want to thank those who had a direct hand in planning and making that evening the wonderful event it was.

The evening could not have happened without the support of Amie Michael of the Lumina Foundation and Megan Garton of American Fidelity.  These sponsors allowed us to honor all Indiana teachers in a great way.

I was fortunate to receive a number of gifts, including a handsome leather briefcase and leather folio, both stamped with my name and initials.  These were purchased by the IDOE from Brenner Luggage.

Tim Jeffers and CSO Architects graciously purchased handcrafted glass apples for each of the teacher of the year candidates.  As you can see, this is a handsome piece of art.  It is a product of the Zimmerman Glass Factory, a longstanding Hoosier landmark in historic Corydon, our first state capital.

Tim and CSO Architects were also responsible for the handsome Teacher of the Year pin from Hofmeister Jewelers.  This beautiful gold pin features the words "Teacher of the Year" in the shape of an apple.

As if that were not enough, I have John Elliott and Kroger to thank for an incredibly generous I received a check for $1000.00.

At the end of the evening I was surprised, honored, and deeply humbled when Governor Mike Pence proclaimed me a Sagamore of the Wabash.  I will say more about this in another post, but this brought tears to my eyes.  The framing for this and the 2014 Indiana Teacher of the Year Proclamation was donated by Ryan Burosh and Prizm, The Artist's Supply Store.

*Those who were at the banquet will understand this, but I wanted all the husbands to have the Hamlet reference, which is in the document linked above.