Acting Lottery Commissioner, Joe Froehlich, presents Joe Sturm with his Excellence in Education check.

An Emmet County educator known for building lasting relationships with his students has been honored with an Excellence In Education award from the Michigan Lottery.

The award winner, Joe Sturm, is a math teacher at Petosky High School. The school is a part of the Public Schools of Petosky 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 and WILX in Lansing, WLUC in Marquette, WNEM-TV in Saginaw, and WWTV-TV in Traverse City. The news segment featuring Sturm will air this evening.

Sturm said his love for math and tutoring opportunities in high school led him to a career in education.

“I am one of those people who have always known they would be a teacher. I have always been interested in and have a talent for math. I had tutoring opportunities throughout middle and high school and always enjoyed them. Working as a Teaching Assistant at Northern Michigan University was what cemented my interest in education and gave me great experience that continues to help me thrive.

“In my time in the classroom, I have come across a lot of students with different backgrounds, as learners and as people, and finding what works for them is an exciting challenge that makes every day different and fun. While math can be dry at times, I approach each day with humor and a light heart, and I love that I get to laugh every day. I tell people all the time that I will stop teaching when it stops being fun, and I do not imagine that happening any time soon.”

Sturm was nominated for the award by a colleague.

“Joe is the most dedicated, selfless, engaging, and dynamic teacher that I have ever met. He constantly puts his students first and works tirelessly to ensure their success. As a high school math teacher, his content is not always students’ favorite, and he makes his class a place all students want to be.

“Joe is fantastic at building relationships with students and every child in his room feels welcome. He always knows things about each kid outside of the classroom and strives to build the connections that not everyone can. He attends at least one of every event for all sports, clubs, etc. so that students can feel his support outside of class. He can be seen at almost every event at Petoskey High School showing his students how much he cares.

“He is also an advisor for National Honor Society, a middle school cross country coach, and volunteer volleyball coach, dedicating his personal time to students. He loves being involved and helping students in all capacities of their lives. Most recently, he joined as co-advisor for student leadership where he actively plans and participates in all school events. He travels with the students to regional and state conferences allowing them to share their successes and learn from others so they can make Petoskey High School a place that everyone wants to be.”

Sturm earned a bachelor’s degree from Northern Michigan University and has been an educator for 5 years, all 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.