This is the 16th year of this annual award to recognize five DeKalb County school employees, one in each of five categories: Teacher Grades Pre-K-5; Teacher Grades 6-8; Teacher Grades 9-12; Administrator; and Support Staff.
Yvonne Johnson, retired elementary school teacher in the Sycamore School District, has established an endowed fund with the DeKalb County Community Foundation to make these awards possible.
Dan Templin, Executive Director of the DeKalb County Community Foundation, stated, “Nominations were a joint effort from teachers, administrators and the community. A nonpartisan committee made the final determination from the 16 nominees.
The recipients of the 2015 DeKalb County Excellence in Education Awards are:
Pre-K Fifth Grade Teacher: Marcy Billington, kindergarten teacher, Davenport Elementary School, Genoa-Kingston CUSD 424
Marcy Billington is a kindergarten teacher at Davenport Elementary. She is married to Don Billington, and has two sons, Kevin and Craig.
Sixth Eighth Grade Teacher: Amanda Baum, seventh-grade mathematics teacher, Clinton-Rosette Middle School, DeKalb CUSD 428
Amanda Baum is a mathematics teacher at Clinton Rosette Middle School. She also has been involved with youth sports and community charitable events including Feed My Starving Children.
Ninth 12th Grade Teacher: Lisa Beynon, art teacher, Genoa-Kingston High School
Lisa Beynon is an art teacher at Genoa-Kingston High School where she teaches painting, drawing, 3-D studio arts and digital photography.
