Wetter honored to be February Teacher of the Month

February Teacher of the Month Katina Wetter (back, left) welcomes some special guests to her room as she's presented her award recently. Besides Banner Graphic General Manager Daryl Taylor (back, right) being on hand to present her award, she also welcomed former student Logan Tingle (center), who nominated her for the honor.

CLOVERDALE -- When second-grader Logan Tingle nominated his former teacher Katina Wetter for the Banner Graphic's inaugural Teacher of the Month Award in February, he kept his remarks simple.

"She goes above and beyond to help her students and they all love her," Logan said in his online nomination, with a little help from mom Pam Tingle.

It was a simple nomination statement, but one that carried the day, gaining Wetter the votes to win the February award.

As someone who has been on the other side of such a special teacher-student relationship, Wetter was touched by Tingle's nomination.

"I was influenced by a very special teacher who inspired me to be the student she knew I could be," Wetter told the Banner Graphic. "Since that time, I have wanted to make a difference in the lives of children."

Since she moved to Cloverdale in sixth grade, Wetter left Putnam County long enough to earn her Bachelor of Science in elementary education at Indiana University in Bloomington.

"Shortly after I graduated from college I returned to make a difference in Cloverdale," she said.

Wetter has been a teacher for eight years, teaching in a developmental preschool for one year and then moving into Cloverdale Community Schools.

In her seven years with the corporation, she spent four as a high ability teacher before moving into first grade.

"For the last three years I have been doing what I truly love, teaching first grade. It has been the most rewarding job of my life," Wetter said. "There is nothing better than seeing the light in a child's eyes when they finally understand a concept that has been eluding them."

Besides already having her high ability licensure through Ball State University, Wetter is also working on her master's degree.

She balances her continuing education with not only her job, but a big family.

"My wonderful husband and I have been married for almost 10 years," she said. "I have four stepchildren, Taylor, TJ, Maci and Justin. We also have a gorgeous baby boy, Kristian, who is 20 months old."

Although her job may make the jobs of wife and mother even more hectic, Wetter said the kind words from her former student remind her that it's all worth it.

"The word honored does not come close to expressing how I feel that my former student, Logan, nominated me for this award," Wetter said. Still today Logan comes to see me. He is a very precious child. "

"Knowing that I have made such an impact on one child makes all the late nights planning, grading and conducting special family nights for my class all worth it. In the end, there is no other place I would rather be than influencing the lives of children."

As part of her award, Wetter received a $50 gift card for use in her classroom.

She was also entered in the Teacher of the Year grand prize contest, sponsored by First National Bank and the Putnam County Community Foundation. The Teacher of the Year will receive a $500 cash prize.

Wetter's competition for Teacher of the Year will be the remaining Teacher of the Month winners for the school year.

While nominations are now closed in the March Teacher of the Month contest, voting is open today through Friday.

Nominations for the April Teacher of the Month will open on Monday, April 1.

Learn more about the contest by clicking on Teacher of the Year Contest at www.banner-graphic.com.