North Tahoe chamber honors five outstanding area educators

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Teachers have any number of judges: Administrators, principals, peers and parents.

The North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce honored five local teachers Tuesday who are popular with perhaps their most important judges: Students.

About 40 people gathered Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe to honor five Incline educators who are popular with students, according to their superiors.

D.C. Larrabee of the Lake Tahoe School, Kari Michael from Incline High, Debbie Cole from Incline Middle, Karen Leisek from Incline Elementary and Russell Dudley from Sierra Nevada College received outstanding educator awards Tuesday from the Chamber.

Below is a little info about each winner.

D.C. Larrabee

School: LTS

Positions: Elementary science teacher, director of elementary outdoor education program and the school's climbing program.

Praise from the boss: Headmaster Steve McKibben said Larrabee is immensely popular with his students.

“The students worship D.C. — he can do no wrong in their eyes, and to them he knows everything,” McKibben said. “Whether that's climbing big wall routes in Yosemite or the gravitational pull of the earth, he's a pied piper for us, he's a wonderful teacher and devoted to his students and the school.”

McKibben said Larrabee, a SNC graduate, ingrains his students with the scientific method from day one and maintains one of the LTS' most popular classrooms with gila monsters, tarantulas and turtles.

Kari Michael

School: IHS

Positions: Special education teacher, accreditation coordinator.

Praise from the boss: With a knack for leadership and an eye for details, IHS Principal John Clark said Michael is a perfect fit for the school's special education program.

“Kari has been here a number of years and in that time she has really developed into one of our teacher leaders,” Clark said. “In order to be a successful special ed teacher you need to know all the rules and regulations ... every special ed student need an individual education plan and she's been on top of that. One of the things she's also done is switched to high school from elementary, and I've taught at both those levels and can tell you it's not an easy jump, but she's handled it well.”

Debbie Cole

School: IMS

Positions: Eighth grade English, algebra and gifted and talented teacher for both grades 7-8. Also advises the competitive Math Counts team at IMS.

Praise from the boss: IMS Site Administrator Sharon Kennedy said Cole is a valued staff member who was overdue for an outstanding educator honor.

“She's a leader, a go-to person at our school,” Kennedy said. “The kids absolutely love her and adults respect her, she's a favorite of the kids.”

Kennedy praised Cole for the results she's produced in her six years at IMS after coming over from the elementary school. She said Cole has a 90 percent or better passing rate on students passing high school-level algebra at IMS, in addition to successfully teaching the honors English program at IMS for eighth graders.

Karen Leisek

School: IES

Position: Third grade teacher

Praise from the boss: Leisek, a teacher with IES since 1986, is another favorite who deserves recognition, said Principal Kathleen Watty.

“She is a caring, principled, curious, data-driven teacher who more than deserves this recognition,” Watty said. “... When I think about ‘do I want my child in this classroom,” ... the answer for Karen is a resounding yes!”

Russell Dudley

School: SNC

Position: Professor of Fine Arts; teaches photography, new genres and professional practices; and serves as director of The Tahoe Gallery.

Praise from the boss: Dudley is one of the standouts at one of the strongest departments at SNC, said President Robert Maxson.

“In the first place he is an outstanding professor, a great teacher and a very good artist,” Maxson said. “He's very popular with the students and he teaches in a very strong department, is highly respected and he's one of the stars of the department.”