(STURGIS) – A teacher at Congress School has received a special honor.
The Sturgis Area Community Foundation has announced that Lesley Starkey has been selected as the winner of the 2024 John E. Oster Award For Excellence In Teaching.
Starkey was nominated by her peers and then reviewed by an independent award committee made up of community members and Sturgis Public Schools leadership. Starkey is the 43rd recipient of the award.
Starkey is a Title 1 special Education teacher at Congress School. After graduating from Albion High School, she attended the University of Michigan where she ran track. She came to Sturgis in 2007, right after graduating from college.
In addition to being a teacher, Starkey is also the Sturgis High School girls track coach, a position she has held since 2020. As she does in the classroom, Starkey’s goal on the track is to help students become the best version of themselves.
In recent years, Starkey has worked with the Michigan High School Athletic Association to expand its adaptive program to make space for more students with disabilities. The program was originally created to provide access for students in wheelchairs, but Starkey saw an opportunity for students with other disabilities, who were not in wheelchairs, to also benefit from the adaptive program.
Starkey will be recognized on October 3 during an event at the Sturges-Young Center For The Arts.
(06-17-2025) Bids Opened On LaGrange County Road Project
(06-17-2025) Burr Oak Schools Select Butts To Be Next Superintendent
(06-17-2025) MSP Investigating Hit And Run Incident In Quincy
(06-17-2025) Trine University Names Lexie Staten As VP Of Academic Affairs
(06-17-2025) Angola Woman Injured In One Vehicle Crash
(06-17-2025) Victim Identified In Fatal Elkhart Shooting
(06-16-2025) Authorities Investigating Shooting Death In Coldwater
(06-16-2025) One Dead And 11 Injured In Elkhart Shooting
(06-16-2025) Quincy School Board Starting Superintendent Interviews
(06-16-2025) Second Round Interviews Start For Burr Oak Superintendent Candidates
(06-16-2025) Sturgis BOE Holding Budget Hearing Today
(06-16-2025) Charges Filed Against Auburn Man In Shooting Incident
(06-12-2025) 68th Annual Three Rivers Water Festival Starts Today
(06-12-2025) Colon BOE Selects Two Candidates For Superintendent Interviews
(06-12-2025) Angola Man Arrested After Short Pursuit
(06-12-2025) Angola Man Arrested In Connection With Auto Theft
(06-12-2025) Sturgis City Commission Sets Millage Rate Public Hearing
(06-11-2025) CHA Says To Be Aware Ticks And Mosquitoes
(06-11-2025) Final Three Candidates Interviewed for B.O. Superintendent
(06-10-2025) Blankenship Warns Of New Scam