Wheatland Center School science teacher Megan Zirbel is among the 100 Wisconsin teachers selected for the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Teacher Fellowship this year.
From a school news release:
For the second consecutive year, a Wheatland teacher has been honored with the most prestigious teaching award in the state. The selection committee for the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Teacher Fellowship announced the 2018 recipients Tuesday, March 20th. Awards in the amount of $6,000 will be made to 100 Wisconsin teachers and their schools. The Wheatland J1 School District is proud to announce that Megan Zirbel, Middle School Teacher, has been named a winner of the 2018 Kohl Teacher Fellowship. Fellowship recipients are educators who have been chosen for their superior ability to inspire a love of learning in their students, their ability to motivate others, and their leadership and service within and outside the classroom. As the primary middle school science teacher, Megan has played a critical role in making Wheatland a leader in Science Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math programming in Southeast Wisconsin. With Megan’s guidance Wheatland was the first school in the area to implement Project Lead the Way’s (PLTW) Gateway curriculum. For the past 7 years at Wheatland Mrs. Zirbel has been empowering her students through a myriad of rigorous and exciting PLTW courses, but more importantly her dynamic personalized approach engages them as learners. Fellowship recipients are selected by a statewide committee composed of civic leaders, representatives of education-related associations, and the program’s co-sponsors: the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools (WCRIS), regional Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESA), and the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators. The Kohl Foundation Fellowship program was established by Herb Kohl, philanthropist and businessman, in 1990. To date the foundation has awarded over 11 million dollars to Wisconsin educators, principals, students, and schools. “We are incredibly proud of Megan, she is a phenomenal teacher,” said Wheatland J1 School District Principal Drew Halbesma. “The Kohl Fellowship is the most prestigious award a Wisconsin teacher can receive, and no one is more deserving than Megan Zirbel. I believe she truly embodies all that Herb Kohl had in mind when he created this incredible opportunity to recognize great teaching.” Zirbel will receive her award at a ceremony in Monona, April 14. She is the second Wheatland teacher to be honored with the Kohl Teacher Fellowship.”
