Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Awards And Personnel topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
South Middleton honors teachers, student scholarship winner and retirees at May board meeting
Summary
The board celebrated educators and staff: Heather Kofa received the Charles L. and Marion B. Matts Award; PSBA presented the HH Quinby scholarship to student representative Tyler Blanchard; the board also adopted retiree resolutions honoring multiple long-serving employees.
The South Middleton School District Board of School Directors used its May 18 meeting to present awards, recognize a student scholarship winner and honor retiring staff.
Fred Matts presented the 2026 Charles L. and Marion B. Matts Award for superior classroom teaching to Heather Kofa, an English language arts teacher at Yellow Bridges Middle School, praising her "intentional planning, strong routines and a focus on student thinking." Kofa thanked her nominators and colleagues.
Diana Rayner of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association presented the HH Quinby scholarship to student representative Tyler Blanchard, who said he will attend Georgetown University to study political science and political economy. "I'm going to Georgetown University next year," Blanchard told the board, and thanked the district for the opportunity to serve as a student representative.
The board adopted resolutions recognizing the 2026 retirees, listing Mary Corbin (34 years), Lisa Garman (31 years), Diane Johnson (administrative assistant, 3 years), Missus Klasick (33 years), Christine Klein (28 years), Crystal (administrative assistant, 34 years; name redacted in transcript), Jeffrey Schwartz (34 years), and Lori Strayer (24 years). Several retirees spoke about their careers and the relationships they formed in the district; one retiree reflected, "You cannot reach a child's mind until you capture their heart."
The board noted community support for scholarships and said it would post retiree resolutions on the district website. The meeting closed with board thanks to the retirees and a reminder of upcoming senior events and commencement dates.
The awards and retiree recognitions were ceremonial in nature and required no board action beyond adoption of the resolutions acknowledging service.
