NWMSU Media Release
A local teacher’s dedication to her students earned her a top honor from Northwest Missouri State University’s outreach centers.
The University presented Shantell Cross, a sixth grade teacher at Hosea Elementary in St. Joseph, with its Young Educator of the Year award. The award, presented by Northwest’s outreach centers in St. Joseph and Kansas City, is given to a non-tenured teacher who has demonstrated evidence of service above normal expectations.
The University announced Cross as this year’s winner June 21 during its fourth annual Northwest Night at the St. Joseph Mustangs game. Darryl Johnson, a Northwest alumnus and 2013 inductee into the National Teachers Hall of Fame, presented the award. Loyal Northwest supporters also helped the Mustangs set a new attendance record as 4,427 people watched the game.
Hosea Elementary Principal Kevin Carroll nominated Cross, who recently completed her first year of teaching at the school, for her contributions to the school, positive interactions with students and innovative lessons.
Cross serves as the building’s DMI coach, which allows her to learn best practices in mathematics and share them with other teachers, and she coaches sixth grade girls basketball.
Additionally, she organized a sixth grade dance and a sixth grade graduation. She developed a play day for students by researching games, designing T-shirts, scavenging for materials and creating a schedule. In her classroom, she created tabletop whiteboards that students used to brainstorm answers and show their work during team activities.
“Mrs. Cross’ hard work and dedication was an example to her students,” Carroll said. “She built relationships with each child and worked tirelessly at challenging them to be more and to do more, all while meeting their individual needs. Shantell has contributed to Hosea this year in many ways and is a fantastic addition to our wonderful staff.”
This was the second year Northwest presented the Young Educator of the Year award. The award is an effort to bring awareness to younger educators in the region and the positive impacts educators they are having on students, said Dr. Terry Barmann, director of outreach at Northwest.
“What Shantell Cross has done is definitely deserving of some recognition, and we are lucky to have her as an educator,” Barmann said.
Northwest’s St. Joseph and Kansas City centers offer 20 graduate degree and certificate programs including 19 in education ranging from master’s, education specialist and education doctorate degrees, as well as a Master of Business Administration. For more information, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/outreach.