Lottery Commissioner, Suzanna Shkreli, presents Gina Richards with her Excellence in Education check.

A Genesee County educator who is known for helping students reach their potential has been honored with an Excellence In Education award from the Michigan Lottery.

The award winner, Gina Richards, is a fourth-grade teacher at West Bendle Elementary. The school is part of Bendle Public Schools.

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, WLUC in Marquette, WNEM-TV in Saginaw, and WWTV-TV in Traverse City. The news segment featuring Richards will air this evening.

“Ms. Richards’ unconventional path to becoming an educator is a testament to her commitment and desire to help children succeed,” said Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli. “Her dedication to her students, both inside and outside the classroom, makes her an exceptional educator.”

Richards said she was drawn to a career in education to help students who struggle.

“As an elementary student, I struggled in school. I wanted to help children that struggle with academics. I found a career that will help me accomplish my goal of helping children that are academically challenged like I was. I started teaching later than most people do, so this drives me to excel in teaching my students.  I love watching how students grow and develop in the course of a year and to see that I have a hand in helping them achieve this goal.”

Richards was nominated for the award by a family she worked closely with.

“Ms. Richards returned to college in her late 30’s to obtain her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. She chose to teach elementary school to help children in the area achieve their potential. Bendle school district is a lower income district in need of teachers like her that truly care for the less fortunate students. Ms. Richards makes herself available to all her students and parents that may need help. She goes to students’ activities and even treats them to roller skating parties. She also will help the young girls with their hair in the morning to help them feel more secure with themselves. At Bendle they are streamlining special needs children. Ms. Richards works with a lot of special needs children, and her students have great test scores. She’s a positive influence on her students, parents, and faculty.”

Richards earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan Flint. She has been an educator for six years, the last four 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.