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Longtime Lake and Pen teacher recieves BP Excellence award

Linda Richter

Linda Richter has been with the district since 1979. "She's just a good person who goes well beyond the call of duty," says husband and fellow Lake and Pen educator Ron Richter. 

A longtime Lake and Peninsula teacher has been chosen for the 2016 BP Teachers of Excellence award

When Linda Richter was asked to video-conference in to a recent school board meeting, she thought it was going to be about an issue with the school calendar. So it was a surprise when the board turned around and presented her with the Teachers of Excellence Award.

"In the end, she was pretty much speechless," says superintendent Ty Mase, "and the board was very emotional. Linda’s been with us since 1979, so it was a very worthy award for her."

Linda is the head teacher at Kokhanok now. She and her husband Ron have been in the district for more than two decades, and taught in 6 different villages.

Ron Richter says his wife has always put in extra hours to help kids succeed.

"She runs a ship that’s tight and she wants people to do as well as they can," says Richter. "So she even does teacher instruction. Like if we have a teacher who's a little weak on the reading program or something, she’ll sit down and teach her how to do it. She'll go into the classroom and model it. She'll make sure he or she knows how to use the tools they need to do a good job in the classroom. She's just a good person who goes well beyond the call of duty."

Linda Richter has also been very involved in community activities, spearheading a culture week during her decade in Nondalton. Her husband says she learned skin-sewing years ago in Pedro Bay, and always involved her students in sewing and other projects. 

The BP award comes with $500 for Linda’s school. She says that will be used to get her colleagues better access to teaching materials through the website Teachers Pay Teachers.

"If we were to go to a bookstore and buy some of these materials, we would pay $20, but we can get these units already put together at the Teachers Pay Teachers site for, say, $5 or $10," explains Richter. "So it's just a wonderful resource for teachers."

The other $500 is going toward something a little more fun -- she says she’s planning to throw a banana split party for the school and community.