The award winner, Rosanna Goodwin, is the school administrative assistant at John D. Pierce Middle School. The school is part of the South Redford School District.
The Michigan Lottery established the Excellence In Education awards in 2014 to recognize outstanding public-school educators across the state during the school year.
Winners of the weekly award receive a $2,000 cash prize. At the end of the school year, one of the weekly award winners will be selected to receive the Lottery’s Educator of the Year award and will receive a $10,000 cash prize.
Each winner also is featured in a news segment on the Lottery’s media partner stations: WXYZ-TV in Detroit, FOX 17 in Grand Rapids, FOX 47 in Lansing, WNEM-TV in Saginaw, and WWTV-TV in Traverse City. The news segment featuring Goodwin will air this evening.
Goodwin says her high school counselor drove her to a career in education.
“My high school counselor encouraged me to become a better student and reach my potential. He was always there to help me when I needed it and because of that, I was awarded a full scholarship. I saw the positive impact he had on all the students at our school, and I wanted to have a career where I could have an impact.”
Goodwin was nominated for the award by her husband.
“Mrs. Goodwin is the secretary to the principal at John D. Pierce Middle School. She is not your ordinary secretary. She engages with students daily going above and beyond. You can find Mrs. Goodwin helping out daily in the lunchroom, hallways, classrooms and at after school activities. Mrs. Goodwin also creates a safe space for students as she has an open-door policy if you need her. She makes it her priority to try and connect with every student as she knows how important building relationships with students is.”
Goodwin has worked in education for seven years, the last three in her current position.
Excellence in Education award nominees are evaluated on the following criteria:
- Excellence – Their work consistently helps students and/or their schools or school districts advance to higher levels of academic achievement.
- Dedication – They consistently go above and beyond expectations to help students succeed.
- Inspiration – Their work inspires others around them to exceed expectations either academically or professionally.
- Leadership – They demonstrate clear leadership skills in their positions with their school or school districts.
- Effectiveness – The nominee’s work has clear and positive results on the educational advancement of students within the school or school district.