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Wyomissing Area SD honors students and staff with inaugural 'Spartan Spotlight' awards and new Hills Elementary mural
Summary
The Wyomissing Area School District presented a community-created mural at Hills Elementary and unveiled five inaugural "Spartan Spotlight" peer-recognition awards honoring staff across teacher, support, leadership, innovation and customer-service categories.
The Wyomissing Area School District on April 27 showcased a community-funded mural at Hills Elementary and presented the first-ever "Spartan Spotlight" peer-recognition awards to five employees.
Superintendent (identified in the meeting as Dr. Water) introduced the mural project and thanked partners including art teacher Kristen Heisalbright, artist Mike Miller and WAIF/WAVE for funding and volunteer support. Presenters said the mural involved students across kindergarten through fourth grade and emphasized intergenerational volunteer involvement; a short video accompanied the presentation to highlight student participation.
The board also announced the inaugural Spartan Spotlight winners, a peer-nominated program created via a staff Google form and selected by a rubric developed by the district well-being committee. The inaugural recipients were named in five categories: Teacher Excellence (Schwarz), Support Staff Excellence (Jennifer Kohler), Leadership (Dr. Corey Jones), Innovation (Andrea Koopazeski) and Customer Service (Allison Heer). Dr. Michael, who helped describe the nomination and selection process, said the awards were intended to highlight staff-chosen recognition rather than administrator-selected honors.
Presenters described concrete examples behind several nominations: Schwarz was cited for supporting special-education students and arranging private presentations so a student could earn a passing grade; Kohler was praised for proactive support in building routines and student needs; Koopazeski was credited with piloting an indoor AI-powered vertical hydroponic garden funded through a WAIF grant; Allison Heer was recognized for her daily administrative support that helps the school run smoothly.
The district said plaques for the Spartan Spotlight program will be displayed across school buildings and winners will be invited to future board meetings for public recognition. The Hills mural and the awards program will also be highlighted on district social media.
The meeting concluded the recognition portion of the agenda and moved on to liaison reports and routine business.
