Honoring ‘Mrs. M’: Janice Montgomery named Republic’s Woman of the Year

Mike Wolanin | The Republic Janice Montgomery thanks her family, friends and supporters in a speech after receiving The Republic’s Woman of the Year award during a ceremony at The Commons in downtown Columbus, Ind., Wednesday, June 7, 2023.

COLUMBUS, Ind. — “This is overwhelming. It’s kind of like the first day of teaching.”

Those were the words of community volunteer and semi-retired educator Janice Montgomery as she accepted The Republic’s 2022 Woman of the Year award in a ceremony at The Commons Wednesday evening.

The award, which dates back to 1981, annually honors a woman from Bartholomew County who has contributed to creating a vital community.

“I’m humbled to be among the women of character who hold this honor,” said Montgomery.

Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. Director of Elementary Education Laura Hack, who had Montgomery as a mentor, said that she admires “her tenacity, her kindness, her energy and her giving spirit.”

Montgomery’s career in education includes work with the BCSC, the Center for Teaching and Learning, and the Bartholomew Consolidated School Foundation.

Today, she serves as schoolmarm at the one-room Simmons Schoolhouse in Hope (a role she took on in 2006), substitutes for BCSC teachers and administrators and is the president of the Bartholomew County Retired Teachers Association.

John Burnett, executive vice chairman of the Community Education Coalition, said Montgomery worked alongside his mother, fellow teacher and 1991 Woman of the Year Ruth Ann Burnett.

However, he got to know her best when he approached BCSC with the idea of having Montgomery be on loan to the Center for Teaching and Learning. He said that the center was a “concept that became a reality” thanks to the work of Montgomery and several other individuals dedicated to serving “learners of all ages and those who teach.”

“That actually epitomizes Janice, and I’m grateful to know her,” said Burnett.

For more on this story, and more photos, see Friday’s Republic.