By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
Geneseo School District educators were honored at a recent Lady Leafs varsity basketball competition.
Varsity girls’ basketball coach Scott Hardison continues to carry on a tradition implemented by Geneseo High School teacher and former GHS coach, Steve Brucher.
The tradition is saying “thank you” to educators who have been influential in the player’s life.
The players on this year’s team invited the educator they chose to attend the recent Geneseo basketball game. Theme of the night was “You Make a Difference.”
The educators were honored at the game, and when they were introduced, brief statements were read about each educator and their relationship to the team member.
Brucher, a GHS history teacher, and Geneseo Middle School basketball coach, said he believes a student’s conduct in the classroom is reflected on the gym floor. Each year he was involved in coaching at GHS, he asked the senior members of his team to select an educator who has made an impact on their life.
One home game of the season is designated as a time for “Educator Appreciation.”
When Hardison took the reins of the team, the tradition was familiar to him. He said when he was a student at Alleman High School, the team members also chose an educator to be honored.
“I asked Brucher if it was okay to continue what he had started and he was in favor of that,” Hardison said.
Brucher and Hardison agree that the educators who are selected have been very important and influential in the lives of the young ladies and the “Educator Appreciation” time is a way of saying “thank you.”
Brucher said when he was in school, there was a “Teacher Appreciation Night,” when each player selected a teacher who had had an influence/impact on their life, or simply was one of their favorite teachers.
. At the recent GHS game, each senior player wrote a brief statement explaining their choice and presented their honoree with a plaque. The younger players on the varsity team presented certificates to their honorees.
THE PLAYERS AND THE EDUCATORS HONORED:
SENIORS:
-Kendall Ellerbrock – Deanna Brossman, English teacher at GHS.
-Hanna Kreiner – Carie Kreiner, Mom; Home school educator, and travel basketball coach.
-Sydney Nelson – Michael Harrington, GHS teacher.
-Jeslen Rink – Jennifer Lindberg, GHS Spanish teacher.
-Payton Snider – Brad Snider, Dad, basketball coach.
-Addison Snodgrass – Lee Verner, tennis coach.
-Lily Taylor – Megan Davidson – GHS Spanish teacher.
YOUNGER PLAYERS ON VARSITY TEAM:
-Bella Brown – John Kroener, GHS History teacher.
-Vi Pettit – Andrea Snook, APUSH teacher.
-Kendyl Wassenhove – Michelle Craig, third grade teacher.
-Kate Lehman – Taylor Matthew, seventh grade Math teacher.
-Jaiden Minnaert – Erika Gutierrez, GHS Spanish teacher.
-KJ Wildemuth – Darren Hall, AP Literature teacher.
-Katy Wilson – Andrea Snook, American History teacher.