An Oakland County educator known for being an advocate for students who are struggling has been honored with an Excellence In Education award from the Michigan Lottery.

The award winner, Lee Bonner, is a high school history teacher with the Novi Community 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 Bonner will air this evening.

Bonner says he wanted to have a positive impact on children and that drew him to a career in education.

“My goal has always been to have a positive impact on the students I work with. I have been blessed to have had several teachers who had a positive impact on my life, and my hope is to do the same for my students.”

Building relationships with his students is one of Bonner’s favorite parts of being an educator.

“I really enjoy getting to know my students as human beings. Having conversations with them and building relationships helps me provide them with the type of instruction they need and creates an open environment for learning to take place.”

Bonner was nominated for the award by a colleague.

“Lee works well with struggling students and because he teaches the kids that struggle, he rarely gets recognition for his accomplishments. Lee makes an enormous difference to the kids who need extra support. He frequently makes difficult calls to parents and guardians, he reaches out constantly to help those in need, and he works tirelessly to ensure that his students graduate, whether it be through credit recovery or Co-D classes, or through extra individualized help and instruction. There are, every year, an enormous number of kids that walk across the stage at commencement because of him.  Without Lee, their lives would be much more difficult. He is a caring, dedicated, and invested advocate of those most in need of our help. He is indispensable to our student community and their futures!”

Bonner earned a bachelor’s degree from Grand Valley State University and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan Dearborn. He has worked in education for 23 years, all of them in his 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.