• Mark Stice is in his sixth year at Okemos High School

UPDATE: MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - One Okemos Public School teacher says he would not change a single detail on becoming a music educator, right down to the instrument he first chose to play.

Mark Stice is in his fourteenth year of teaching and his sixth year at Okemos High School.


“I think the minute that I started teaching private clarinet lessons when I was in High School and I saw the look on kids’ face when they started to grab a hold of some of the concepts that I was teaching them. I just thought ‘boy, I want to do this every day; I want to see that look on kids’ face of just that, discovery,'" said Stice.

It is that pursuit of teaching excellence that enabled Stice to be chosen by the Okemos Education Foundationto receive a Commitment to Excellence award, which was presented during the annual OEF Banquet, held this November 17th.

“We were just so pleased to be recognized for the work that we do with the kids and as I said in my speech that when you’re dealing with excellence everyday I think it’s really easy to have that commitment towards it," said Stice.

Stice received the award alongside Kevin Culling, who teaches music at Chippewa Middle School. Other teachers to receive the same award were Susan Casey, Denise Dabrerko, Kathy Lanzetta, and Marisa McCormick.

“I never once expected to be at a school like Okemos where they value music and the arts so much and the students and the parents and the community invested in it so much too," said Stice.

Others involved with Okemos Public Schools who received awards at the OEF Banquet were Patricia Trelstad, Lori Greenberg, LouAnn Stark-Dykema, and Clark and Kathleen Manning.


ORIGINAL STORY: MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - You may have recently heard about an award banquet for Okemos Public School teachers. Get all the details on Meridian Magazine.