Angie Schnuerle surprised at Mt. Hall School
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October 10, 2012 |
According
to Mt. Hall Elementary principal Jim Nash,
kindergarten teacher Angie Schnuerle had an
inkling that whatever prompted this morning's
special assembly in the school gym involved her.
She had that look, Jim said, when she brought in
her class and saw her parents and family there.
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Ms. Angie
Schnuerle, flanked by two grateful
students who know she's the best
teacher, first-graders Asha Abubakari
(left) and Anna Chase. |
What she wasn't quite prepared for, however, was
the appearance of KHQ news anchors Dan Kleckner
and Stephanie Vigil, trailed by cameras, who
called her forward to announce that she'd
been selected as KHQ's October Teacher of the
Month, an honor sponsored by Eastern Washington
University, KHQ and Century Link.
In 18 years presenting the honor, it was only the
second time a KHQ team has visited a Boundary
County school to present the award; in 2007,
high school special education teacher Diane
Niewieroski was honored.
To be considered, a teacher in the KHQ viewing
area, which covers a lot of geography, must be
nominated by a student. Beknownst to very few,
if any, just such a letter had been sent to KHQ
by two first-graders, Asha Abubakari and Anna
Chase, who were both in Ms. Schnuerle's class
last year, extoling how "awesome" Ms. Schnuerle
is.
 That
letter was just one of hundreds KHQ gets each
month, and theirs was the one a team of judges
from all three sponsors said was the very best.
"It's such an honor for this community, this
little school and especially this educator to be
recognized like this," Nash said. "I'm so proud
of those two girls for making such a great
nomination."
While she'd be a great teacher anywhere, it's
fitting that Ms. Schnuerle received the
recognition at Mt. Hall Elementary. She grew up
attending school there; it's where her love of
learning, and her dream of becoming a teacher,
took root.
After college, she taught kindergarten in Alaska
before returning to a classroom at Mt. Hall
Elementary.
"She came back home from Alaska and came back to
the school she grew up in," Nash said, "and
we're so fortunate to have her. I couldn't be
happier for her; she's the kind of teacher every
student deserves. It's been a joy watching her
students grow and do well."
One of the kindergarteners, though, wasn't so
impressed. When Kleckner strode into the gym and
stopped about three feet away from the little
boy, the boy's eye's went wide.
"I know you!" he yelled out. "You're on TV! My
Dad watches you!"
While Kleckner bantered with his newest fan,
Vigil spoke of what a beautiful school Mt. Hall
Elementary, the northern-most school in Idaho,
was.
"We're only ten miles from Canada!" she pointed
out in the 6 p.m. news broadcast.
The piece will also be aired tonight during the
11 p.m. broadcast, and will be posted on the KHQ
website as soon as the producer, Carla, who's
doing triple duty tonight thanks to end of
summer vacations, finds time in her whirlwind
evening to get it posted.
When she does, it will be on-line at
http://www.khq.com/category/80113/teacher-of-the-month.
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