Timing, dedication and passion all played a role in four teachers being named as Oakland County Teachers of the Year.
Earlier this week all four were surprised by Oakland ISD Superintendent Ken Gutman with their awards.
They were among the 65 teachers from 22 school districts nominated for the award.
For the 2025 awards there was a new category for Early Childhood teachers along with elementary, middle/junior high, and high school teachers.
Leah Lynady was the first recipient of the Early Childhood teacher of the year for her work at the Lamphere Early Childhood Center.
Lynady has been an early childhood teacher for over 25 years. She came to Lamphere three years ago after spending five years in the Berkley school district.
She admitted she was not looking to change districts, but after being contacted by Lamphere Early Childhood Center Director Nicole Crousore, Lynady accepted her offer before the end of her first interview.
“It was not something I was looking to do, but it has turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made,” said Lynady. “The timing just worked and they have supported everything I have wanted to do since coming here. It is an amazing atmosphere in this district.”
Crousore, who has been in the district for over 20 years and is in her third year as director, said Lynady is the first teacher she has ever hired after only one interview, but has not regretted the decision.“Having Leah here is not about the educator she is, it is about the person she is and what she brings to the table,” said Crousore. “She has changed the culture of this program since coming here. She was exactly the kind of person we were looking for.”
“In addition to her work with students, Leah plays a vital role in connecting parents to valuable resources and ensuring families have access to everyday necessities,” the district said in a statement after Lynady received her award. “She even started a care closet to provide essential items to those in need.”
Lynady said she has found a home at Lamphere and is looking forward to finishing her career there.
“This is the best possible place anyone could dream of working,” she said. “I’ll be here until I retire, I’m sure of it.”
Lynady was not the only Lamphere teacher honored with an award.
Edmonson Elementary third grade teacher Sarah Vrabel also received a surprise visit from Gutman and was honored as the elementary teacher of the year.
Vrabel has been in the district for 14 years and has been teaching third grade at Edmonson for nine years. She was a teacher in Arizona for four years before coming to Lamphere.
She has taught kindergarten, first and second graders in the past, but loves what third graders have to offer.
“Third grade is such a great grade level. They are at that age where they are still just sponges and they love learning and want to please you, but they have an independence to them as well,” said Vrabel. “I will retire as a third grade teacher if they let me.”
Vrabel said one of her goals is to continue the type of teaching she has tried to implement since students returned to the classroom after the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on having students socializing, interacting and collaborating in the classroom rather than the solitude of at-home virtual learning.
“When we came back into the classroom, the kids needed joy and they needed to be engaged and make them want to be at school,” she said. “So that has really been my mission these past few years. Doing things like wearing funny outfits or turning my class into a courtroom and letting the kids debate with each other. Just fun ways to keep them entertained, but still working on keeping high educational standards.”
Erik Meerschaert has been dedicating himself to creating new standards for his special education students at Lake Orion High School since coming to the district six years ago.
His efforts helped earn him high school teacher of the year.
Meerschaert came to Lake Orion after ten years of teaching at Eaton RESA in Eaton County.
He works with Cognitive Impairment (CI) special education students and has been working to help integrate them with other students at the high school through a unified sports program.
The program just completed their first season of basketball playing against other schools with the same type of program.
“It is a combination of general education and special education students, with three special education players on the court along with two general education peers,” Meerschaert explained. “We typically play between the junior varsity and varsity games.”
Meerschaert said the idea for the program began when he arrived at Lake Orion through an initiative created by the Michigan High School Athletic Association and Oakland County schools. He has been working to build the program ever since and has even branched out to help create a unified robotics program as well.
“It started slowly, but now we have the basketball team, started competing in robotics this year and we hope to have a soccer team start playing next fall,” he said. “It has been a lot of work both inside and outside the district, but seeing what my students get out of it has been great to see.”
Last week the team played in an unforgettable final game of the season.
“We played in the middle of the school day in front of the entire student body which is about 2,300 students; probably the biggest crowd some of these kids will ever play in front of,” said Meerschaert. “It was a great experience and for a lot of our students that was the highlight of their season to be able to play that game in front of all of their peers and teachers at the school.”
He joins Orion Oaks Elementary teacher Norman Wright as Lake Orion recipients of the county honor. Wright was selected in 2024.
Huron Valley teacher Samantha Samuels was the final teacher to have a surprise visit to her Oak Valley Middle School classroom on Wednesday.
Samuels is a Music, Choir and Performing Arts teacher for grades 6-8 and is in her sixth year in the district. She had been teaching at various charter schools for the previous ten years.
She said interest in music and the arts has been growing over the last few years and enjoys nurturing interested students after they get “the bug” for music or performing.
“In past years I have had around 30 people in my musicals, but in the past two or three years I have had around 50 or 60 come out to be a part of the production,” she said. “Middle school is the best place for kids to explore that side of the music and performance avenue. They can learn or grow or they can decide it’s just not for them and move on.”
Samuels said the pandemic made an impact on the arts at Oak Valley and they are just now rekindling interest and getting students involved again.
“The pandemic really did a number on us and it has been a process trying to regrow our program and to spark that interest again and kids know it is safe to perform and get out of their shells,” she said.
Samuels still has former students in high school and college return and let her know the impact she has had on them.
“I absolutely love what I do. Being a music teacher is a sense of pride. It is now just what I do, it is who I am,” said Samuels. “I love those kids. The music classroom and the theater classroom is a family and these kids come back year after year. So many of them still reach out to me and stay connected.”
The award includes a $2,000 prize from the Oakland Schools Education Foundation to each winner and they will all be recognized at a special event on May 8.