THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603080237
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
An educator is not necessarily a traditional classroom teacher.
That was evident when the Franklin-Southampton Area Chamber of Commerce honored educators-of-the-year from Franklin City Public Schools, Southampton County Public Schools, Southampton Academy and Paul D. Camp Community College.
Those chosen - by their peers - include two librarians, a teacher of students with learning disabilities and a industrial arts professor.
The educators share involvement with the students and commitment to helping.
The honorees are:
Dianne S. Rusnak, who teaches students with learning disabilities, at S.P. Morton Middle School in Franklin.
Rusnak has taught 11 years, five of them at Morton.
``My philosophy of education is that every child will succeed and every child will learn,'' she said in her nomination form for the award.
The students she sees have had problems in regular classrooms and often have low self-esteem because of past failures.
``My job is to help this student reach his or her fullest potential by providing that student with an opportunity for success,'' she said.
To provide those opportunities, she sets high expectations for students and has them set goals for themselves. ``My students are learning disabled but they are not unable to learn,'' she said.
Rusnak has a bachelor's degree in education from Western Carolina University and has taken graduate level courses. A good educator must keep learning ways to help students, she said.
``Students know that I'm there for them and will not give up on them,'' she said.
Last year she received state and international honors as an outstanding teacher from the Council on Learning Disabilities.
Jean P. Mattox, library media specialist, at Boykins Elementary School.
She has been a teacher for more than 20 years, the past three and a half at Boykins. She has also been librarian in Chesterfield County and three correctional facilities - Southampton Correctional Center, Greensville Correctional Center and the former Southampton Youthful Offender Center.
She has also worked as a librarian at Walter Cecil Rawls Library in Courtland. Her positions there included assistant librarian specializing in children's services, extension children's librarian and children's coordinator.
Mattox received a bachelor's degree in library science from Madison College, now James Madison University, and has taken graduate level courses.
Besides being named educator-of-the-year for Southampton County this year, she was chosen the 1991 outstanding employee for the Department of Correctional Education at Greensville Correctional Center.
Barbara O. Sublett, Southampton Academy librarian.
She has been a librarian for 38 1/2 years, the past five at the independent school in Courtland.
She has worked in the community college system; a public library; a correctional facility library; public schools - elementary, middle and junior high levels; and an independent school.
She graduated from the former Drewryville High School and Madison College, now James Madison University.
Mary Addie Flowers, assistant headmaster, described Sublett with these words: ``Efficiency, accuracy, enthusiasm, energy, wisdom and humor.''
``When you put these characteristics together in one person, they just produce a fantastic job for us,'' she said.
As librarian, Sublett works with 250 students, from pre-kindergarten classes to seniors.
``She is a confidante to many students,'' Flowers said. ``One of the reasons is the fact that she listens well.
``She will guide but is not judgmental.''
R. Michael Johnson, who teaches industrial courses at Paul D. Camp Community College.
College officials said he was chosen for the award because of his excellence as an instructor, his rapport with the students and his service to the community.
Affectionately called ``Doc'' by his students, Johnson was hired to teach automotive and welding classes. Quickly, he branched into other areas of technology, as needed: drafting, blueprint reading, hydraulics, industrial safety and engineering technology. And during ``emergencies,'' he has also taught beginning math and natural science.
He has taught classes at Franklin and Suffolk as well as Virginia Power, and twice he has been acting division chair at the Franklin campus.
``The greatest reward I receive is seeing the sudden light of comprehension in a student's eyes as they finally master a difficult concept,'' he said.
A bonus is later learning the student is using that concept in his work, he added.
Johnson is the lead faculty member in an industrial technology certificate program with three area industries and Franklin City Schools.
He is involved in various college committees and activities. He is well-known for his creativity in helping build the college's Christmas parade float, which often wins first-place.
He has bachelor's and master's degrees in industrial arts education from Florida State University. A Charlottesville native, he has also served in the Navy and been a food service manager at Old Dominion University, a Catholic girls' school in Ohio and at Walt Disney World. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Franklin-Southampton Area Chamber of Commerce honored educators of
year, top row, left to right, R. Michael Johnson and Jean P. Mattox;
bottom row, left to right, Dianne S. Rusnak and Barbara O. Sublett.
by CNB