A compassionate special education teacher has been honored with one of Bartholomew County’s most distinguished educator awards.
Columbus East High School teacher Michelle Burnett thought she was needed at the March 28 Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce annual meeting to talk about Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. students serving the community through Key Club. Then her name was announced as recipient of the Edna Folger Outstanding Teacher Award.
“I was brought here on false pretenses,” she deadpanned to the audience, who laughed along with her. “I’ve got a speech written about Key Club. It’s over there at my seat,” she said.
Expressing her gratitude, Burnett said she has been working with young people in the midst of difficult situations for 24 years. Her job is to help students who are hurting and upset, who feel lost and who are in desperate need of help, the teacher said.
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The Folger award is given each year during the chamber’s annual meeting to honor the impact teachers have on the Columbus community, in and out of the classroom, said Tobi Herron, Faurecia community and employee involvement director, who also welcomed and honored past Folger winners in the audience.
Each winner receives a keepsake clock and a $4,000 personal award, which is unrestricted and may be used for any purpose.
“In a testament to this special group of people, in nearly every case, recipients have selflessly chosen to use the personal award to purchase innovative teaching materials for their classroom, said Herron, whose company has been involved in sponsorship of the award for more than 30 years.
Burnett said she hadn’t decided on a specific plan for the money, but said she always spends money on her students — and having $4,000 to work with hasn’t quite sunk in yet.
A reception for Burnett will be held at 6 p.m. today at the Columbus North High School cafeteria, prior to the 6:30 p.m. school board meeting, when she will also be recognized as the Folger winner.
The teacher said she had received many emails and messages congratulating her on the award, referring to them as humbling.
“It’s all very touching — the words they have sent,” she said. “I want them to know I don’t take any of this lightly.”
After accepting the award at the chamber of commerce event, Burnett was surprised with a line of about 20 well-wishers from East and the Columbus community who stood along The Commons event room wall congratulating her as she left the stage.
Among them was Maddie Engelau, a junior who leads East’s Key Club. Engelau wrote a letter supporting the nomination of Burnett, the organization’s faculty adviser, for the award.
“She is one of the best people I have ever met,” Engelau said. “She is so selfless. She’s helped me grow my leadership skills.”
That includes learning how to interact with people who have disabilities, Engelau said.
Burnett was described as a passionate advocate for the 20 to 30 students on her caseload, from ninth-graders through age 22, who struggle with emotional challenges.
“She will make them feel like a rock star. She shows them how important they are,” Engelau said in her nomination letter.
Burnett works with students whose home circumstances may be far from stable, students who may not have many other adults who support and encourage them, said Marsha VanNahmen, assistant director at IUPUC’s Center for Teaching and Learning, who co-presented the award with Herron.
She described to the audience Burnett’s efforts to help a young man who had moved from his parents’ home, rallying colleagues to help gather items to help him live independently, from kitchen items to towels, purchasing many of the items herself.
Under Burnett’s leadership, East’s Key Club has grown from just about a dozen members to nearly 100, who provide more than 2,700 community service hours annually, VanNahmen said.
Rebecca Daugherty, an East speech language pathologist who works with Burnett, described her fellow teacher as someone who handles any and all situations with a calm demeanor and an appropriate manner. That extends outside the school into the community and through her work with youth at church and in extracurricular activities at East.
As honored as Burnett was in being surprised with the award, she was also surprised to be greeted with the line of supporters, which included Engelau, Daugherty and Burnett’s son Alec, an East senior.
Burnett talked about a student that VanNahmen mentioned during the award presentation, a second-grade girl Burnett had met when working as a bus monitor that she thought needed some mentoring and attention. After talking with the girl’s father and clearing it through school officials, Burnett stepped forward to meet with the youngster each week as a mentor.
Through the years, the mentoring meetings have continued, although in middle school the two agreed to not meet at lunch because it was cramping the girl’s style a bit, Burnett laughed. Their relationship is now like a big sister-little sister bond, she said.
“God made me this way,” Burnett said of her penchant to reach out when she sees someone having an emotional struggle with circumstances or trying to navigate a rough patch in life. “It’s in my heart to want to help.”
It’s not the first time Burnett has been honored.
She was named to BCSC’s teaching Hall of Fame in 2015, presented to educators who have made extraordinary contributions to the school corporation.
“Each day, I strive to be a light for them,” she said after receiving the Hall of Fame award. “I meet them where they are, with no judgment. It takes a mix of encouragement, clear expectations, tough love, patience — a lot of patience — and humor, a lot of that too — but most of all, it takes compassion.”
After last week’s award presentation, Burnett mentioned that there are so many teachers everywhere trying to reach young people and change their lives and inspire them to secure a better future.
Burnett said she plans to continue helping students at East and in the community, especially those who need an adult to listen and care about their circumstances.
“This is what I was meant to do,” she said.
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Age: 46
Address: Bartholomew County
Family: Husband, Rob, an asphalt foreman for Case Construction; three children, Jade, 21; Alec, 18, an East High School senior, and Kyra, 12.
Work: Special education staff member at Columbus East High School for 24 years.
School and community involvement: East Key Club faculty adviser, Rock Creek Elementary School PTO officer, First Christian Church Children’s Worship team leader, Senior Project board chairwoman and mentor for students.
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Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. will recognize Michelle Burnett, a member of the Columbus East High School faculty, as the Edna Folger Outstanding Teacher Award winner tonight.
Burnett will be recognized during a 6 p.m. reception and during tonight’s 6:30 p.m. school board meeting at Columbus North High School, 1400 25th St.
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