Becker and Putnam honored as Teacher and Classified Staff of the Year for Mitchell School District

MITCHELL, S.D. (MITCHELLNOW) At a ceremony at DWU’s Sherman Center yesterday afternoon, Molly Becker and Angie Putnam were named the district Teacher of the Year and Classified Staff of the Year.

Becker, a Mitchell native who teaches a third and fourth grade multiage classroom at Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary School, is in her seventh year of teaching there.

Also nominated for the Mitchell School District Teacher of the Year Award were Samantha Hieb, a behavioral specialist at L.B. Williams Elementary School; Candace Hauck, a kindergarten teacher at Longfellow Elementary School; Kindra Clark, a seventh grade language arts teacher at Mitchell Middle School and Robert Lemmon, a chemistry teacher at Mitchell High School.

Putnam is a paraeducator at Mitchell High School who is also involved with the Program for Adult Community Transition, Cafe 111 supervision and specially designed physical education activities.

Also receiving nominations for the district Classified Staff of the Year Award were Katie Cornell, a paraeducator at Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary School; Denise Baysinger, an administrative assistant at L.B. Williams Elementary School; Kayla Peterson, a paraeducator at Longfellow Elementary School and Ryan Pryor, a prevention specialist at Mitchell Middle School.