District Appreciation Night
Each May, Pattonville School District honors staff and volunteers during its annual appreciation event.
District Appreciation Night takes place on the first Monday in May and is held in the auditorium at Pattonville High School. The event is open to the community. The awards program is preceded by a dinner for the honorees. During the event, the district recognizes the Teacher, Support Staff and Rookies of the Year, the Pride of Pattonville honorees, retiring staff, staff in a milestone service year, parent support organization volunteers and any outgoing board of education members.
On this page you will find a link to RSVP for dinner and a list of this year's program honorees.
2025 Photo Gallery
District Appreciation Night Dinner
Monday, May 4, 2026 — 6 p.m. Pattonville High School Cafeteria
Those who plan to attend dinner must RSVP. Those being honored during the program will receive a total of two free tickets to dinner (one for the honoree and one for a guest). Additional tickets and those not being recognized will be charged $15 per person (cash or check) due to the community relations office before Monday, April 27. Please make checks payable to Pattonville School District. Dinner tickets will be sent the week before the dinner. Reservations are not required to attend the District Appreciation Night program, which starts at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium.
The people named below are invited to dinner as guests of the district. Letters with invitation details have been sent to those being honored. Congratulations to this year's honorees!
2026 Honorees
Teacher and Support Staff of the Year
Building-level/Semi-finalists: The Pattonville Teacher and Support Staff of the Year honorees are selected based on service, dedication, communication skills and work ethic. Based on nominations from the community, each school selects a building-level Teacher of the Year and Support Staff of the Year in addition to a district services group selecting a building-level Support Staff of the Year.
District finalists: From those candidates, a committee of their peers selects three finalists who are announced in April.
District honorees: From the three finalists, a district-level honoree is named during District Appreciation Night.
Building Teachers of the Year
- Christina Bucheck (Early Childhood)
- Tracy Hilgenbrink (Bridgeway)
- Courtney Cady (Drummond)
- Sarah Adams (Parkwood)
- Maritza Caldera (Rose Acres)
- Katharine Ackman* (Willow Brook)
- Kelley Mueller* (Remington)
- Angela Huesgen (Holman)
- Chip Ianiri (Pattonville Heights)
- Madison Avery* (High School)
*District finalist
Building Support Staff of the Year
- Laura Wick* (Early Childhood)
- Angela Barringhaus (Bridgeway)
- Connor Kirk (Drummond)
- Michelle Evans* (Parkwood)
- Ella Wagner (Rose Acres)
- Lakeisha Griffin* (Willow Brook)
- Melanie Wagner (Remington)
- Lakiva Murphy (Holman)
- Brandt Jefferson (Pattonville Heights)
- Terry Olishile (High School)
- Billy Boner (District Services)
*District finalist
Rookies of the Year
The Rookie of the Year program was introduced in 2021. All eligible teacher and support staff nominees who are in their first or second year in the district are automatically considered for the award. A committee reviews the nominations and select one teacher Rookie of the Year and one support Staff Rookie of the Year. Those honorees are announced in April and will be recognized at District Appreciation Night.
Teacher Rookie of the Year
Matthew Hanses (Willow Brook)
Support Staff Rookie of the Year
Jessica Ihler (Bridgeway)
Pride of Pattonville
The district's most prestigious honor, the Pride of Pattonville award recognizes up to 10 honorees from the Pattonville community. Honorees can be district staff, volunteers or others who have gone above and beyond for the district.
- Jenell Franken, Health and P.E. Teacher at Pattonville High School
- Florida Jenkins, Clerk at the Academy of Innovation at Remington
- Megan Kemper, Science Teacher at Pattonville High School
- Karen Kneib, Guest Educator Districtwide
- Lisa Kraemer, Seventh Grade Teacher at the Academy of Innovation at Remington
- Julie Linck, Fifth Grade Teacher at the Academy of Innovation at Remington
- Tracie Olson, Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher at Pattonville High School
- Jackie Ramey, Reading Teacher at Holman Middle School
- Erika Sepanski, Industrial Technology Teacher at Pattonville Heights Middle School
- Steve White, Instrumental Music Teacher at Holman Middle School
Retirees
Congratulations to our 2025-2026 retirees!
Joseph P. Baird, Dana Ballard, Susan Barnes, Claudia Benbow, Gregory Brooks, Maureen Buerck, Lorna Bulger, Amy Christensen, Dr. Greg Cicotte, Laura Crow, Rebecca Crump, Scott Fader, Cynthia Fain, Joseph Firle, Thomas Flannery, Dr. Don Furjes, Cynthia Hall, Nancy Henley, Ruby Hinkle, Tammy Holzschuh, Eric Johnson, Ricky Jones, Victoria Judson, Beth Kathriner, Rodney Keithly, Heather Klein, Donald Labbe, Steven Leonard, Theodosia "Dodie" Logue, Karen Martin, Tammy Mathes, Joseph McCaslin, Stephanie McCreary, Kenneth Myers, Lisa Neal, Steve Nelke, Denise Overman, Karrie Peters, Robert Pitman, Chris Poelker, Julie Purviance, Dr. Jackie Ramey, Ann Randle, Ginger Roberts, Thomas Samples, Martha Savage, Karleen Schrumpf, Erika Sepanski, Lisa Stahlhut, Edward Stevens, Denise Thomas, James Troxel, Jason Van Beers, Jen Wasmer, Christine Young, Melissa Yount-Ott
Years of Service Recognition
Thirty-Five Years: Alicia O'Neal
Thirty Years: Barbara Klepner, Tracie Olson, Ginger Roberts, Daniel Woehrmann
Twenty-Five Years: Jessica Brandenburg, Ryan Brueckmann, Sylvie Delannay, Scott Fader, Katherine Fitzpatrick, Amy Frost, Gene Grimshaw, Joseph Gutierrez, Abigail Hall, Lanee' Hasenkamp, Scott Hauser, Tracy Hilgenbrink, Melanie Judge, Sharon Kendall, Madeline Marren, Tamara Mathes, Karri Merseal, Brent Mueller, Julie Purviance, Jill Ramig, Ralph Seibert, Marcie Spawr, Travis Williams
Twenty Years: Laurice Abdelmalek, Natalie Alvarez, Victoria Asher, Melissa Benefield, Richard Cochren, Emily Cook, James Dalton, Ashley Downs, Nicole Dye, Mary Franklin, Elizabeth Golfo, Miranda Gossett, Jaimyn Hacker, Tina Hahn, Pamela Havecker, Christine Hillier, Lisa Kraemer, Carole Marsden, Kelly Paluczak, Cherish Robb, Anna White
Fifteen Years: Debra Dold, Carolyn Elliott, Kathryn Funderburk, Don Furjes, Vicki Martin, Jason Payne, Amy Reese, Melissa Schuchart, Jasmine Sewell, Andrew Smith, Tuan Vo, Melissa Yount-Ott
Ten Years: Gregory Adam, Mollie Ahlers, Chad Baldi, Ann Bean, Emily Beger, Christine Behlmann, Christina Buchek, Margaret Catanzaro, Harry Cima, Brooke Cooper, Thomas Crockett, Rhonda Daniels, Emily Doherty, Adrienne Draper, Carmel Edwards, Mary Favazza, Stephanie Fox, Mary Frazier Meyers, Catina Gaddy, Anaisabel Garofalo, Jessica Gerst, Steven Groceman, Jennifer Gruendler, Margaret Hall, Patrick Handrahan, Georgina Heredia, Amanda Hodges, Jennifer Hopkins, Crystal Hulsey, Haley Hunter, Stephanie Kellner, Stephen Lee, Samantha Markowski, Kristen McGreer, Kenneth Myers, Stephen Nelke, Steven Pikes, Juliane Ross, Chester Samples, Thomas Sample, Catherine Selleck, Jason Sellers, Tyler Smith, Scott Stillman, Yueying Su, Carley Tankersley, Shani Thompson, Leigh Travis, Samantha Wandersee, Katelyn Weber, Melissa Wetzel, Regina Wright
Five Years: Lauren Adams Masnica, Madison Avery, Jennifer Barnes, Tomi Benney, Dianna Birkby, Jamie Blaylock, Chelsea Bowles, Tori Cain, Maritza Caldera, Alex Caldwell, Lauren Church, Lillian Corzine, Tamika Dukes, Monica Dunn, Roderica Dunn, Ruth Eroh, Kristine Euson, Gabriel Faron, Zenaida Fleming, Jeff Garmon, Alison Gartner, Jayne Green, Valerie Green, Kristen Hagemeier, Jatonya Hopkins, Madison Hughes, Debra Johnson, Elizabeth Kean, Shevrick Kelley, Micky Kilgore, Renee Kirschbaum, Melissa Lallis, Rosa Landers, Tiffany Liggins, Morgan Mansur, Katelyn Mcmillan, Krista Murphy, Amanda Oggesen, Terry Olishile, Katherine Petron, Nhoc Phong, Paul Rueschhoff, Martha Savage, Kyle Schaper, Dyana Schneider, Davia Simms, Thea Slayton, MaryClare Stoker, Jessica Sumner, Adriene Taylor, Margaret Vitale, Natalie Walker, Johnnie Washington, Prisnice Watford, Nichole Webb, Erin Wentzel, Benjamin Williams, Karen Windom, Kalesia Yates, Margaret Yorg