Jan. 20—The Lauderdale County School District honored several educators, administrators, support staff and one active parent on Thursday evening as part of its annual awards recognition program.

“Congratulations to all of those we celebrate here tonight. It is truly about great people and great people keep our school district moving forward, and I am just fortunate to be a part of it,” Superintendent Dr. John-Mark Cain said of the honorees who were recognized and awarded plaques during the LCSD Board of Trustees regular monthly meeting at the Central Service Office.

Receiving the district’s Pinnacle Award was Diane Freeman, who serves as the director of special services for Lauderdale County schools. The Pinnacle Award recognizes an employee who implements innovative solutions that maximize resources to enhance student achievement.

Freeman, a 26-year veteran of the education field, has spent the past 12 years working in Lauderdale County. As director of special services, she oversees the district’s gifted and special education programs.

“I truly work with the best people, hands-down, in the state. Between Dr. Cain and all of our staff up here, all of our administrators, our teachers, they just make my job extremely easy, and it’s just fun to come to work every day with everybody.”

Anita Wansley, principal at Northeast Elementary School, was named the district’s Administrator of the Year, which was announced last month during a special assembly at the school. Wansley is in her fourth year as principal at Northeast Elementary and has led the school to back-to-back A ratings.

Named Parent of the Year was Tina Creel whose daughter, Emma Kate Creel, is a senior at Southeast Lauderdale High School.

Creel, whose son also attended Southeast, is actively involved in the school from providing monetary donations to bringing treats to teachers to helping at events to spending one of her days searching for a new dress for a homecoming maid who had difficulties with the dress she had planned to wear to the Homecoming ceremony, said Kameron Burnham, assistant principal at Southeast High School. Creel also helps out at sporting events even in sports where her children are not participating, she said.

“She is always helping at the school, volunteering to do whatever needs to be done. She is all around wonderful, and we love her through and through,” Burnham said.

Three teachers were recognized for Teacher of the Year honors, one each from the district’s elementary, middle and high schools.

Honored as the Elementary Teacher of the Year was Linda Taylor, a fourth-grade math teacher at Northeast Elementary School.

April Bonner, who is in her third year at Southeast Middle School, teaches seventh and eighth-grade English and helped start the school’s cross country program. She was named the district’s Middle School Teacher of the Year.

Shauna Waters, a 20-year veteran of the teaching profession, was named the district’s High School Teacher of the Year. Waters teaches Advanced Placement English for seniors, Honors English for sophomores and English 4 at West Lauderdale High School. She also serves as the school’s academic team coach, Tech Champ, National Honor Society adviser and school newspaper adviser.

Besides being named in the high school category, Waters was also named LCSD’s overall Teacher of the Year winner.

Claire Threatt, a school counselor and an alumna of Northeast High School, was named the district’s Counselor of the Year, and Meagan Espey, an administrative assistant for the district’s child nutrition department, was awarded with the Support Staff of the Year honor.

Waters and Wansley will go on to compete in the Third Congressional District teacher and administrator of the year programs, respectively. If they win at the regional level, they will become finalists for the Mississippi Teacher of the Year and Mississippi Administrator of the Year recognition programs, which will be announced later in the spring.

Cain thanked the Lauderdale County Foundation for Excellence in Education for providing the funding for the plaques presented to the recipients.

Contact Glenda Sanders at gsanders@themeridianstar.com.