July 17, 2002

Contact: Allison Rose Lopez, KU School of Education, (785) 864-9610.

KU education dean honors more than 1,070 teachers for 25-plus years of service

Teachers honored from Unified School Districts 200-299

Teachers honored from Unified School Districts 300-399

Teachers honored from Unified School Districts 400-499

Teachers honored from Unified School Districts 500-599

Teachers honored from Unified School Districts 600-699

LAWRENCE -- A Blue Valley teacher with 41 years of teaching service was among more than 1,070 Kansas teachers honored this year by the University of Kansas School of Education for long-term service.

L. Grace Corrick, Overland Park library specialist with the Blue Valley USD 229, received a certificate from KU Dean of Education Angela Lumpkin honoring Corrick's 41 years of service as a teacher.

KU's School of Education annually awards certificates to teachers with careers of 25 years or more. This year's teachers represent 194 of Kansas' 304 school districts.

"We are thrilled to honor the service and expertise of these dedicated teachers," Lumpkin said. "Every day for more than two decades, they have been the professionals who have mentored and shaped the lives of thousands of students.

"We hope that the people across Kansas will take note of the dedicated teachers in their communities and commend them for their important and timeless work."

This fall Corrick returns to Blue Valley West High School, which opened last fall, marking the fifth time Corrick has opened a school library. She has been a library specialist in the Blue Valley USD 229 district since 1986, when she returned to Kansas to open Blue Valley North High School.

"Teaching high school was a good choice for me because I enjoy the teenagers," Corrick said. "I have never had a day when I doubted this was what I wanted to do. I have been blessed with the school districts and principals with whom I work. The greatest reward in teaching is to see the success of the students whose lives you have touched."

The Blue Valley school district did not exist as such in 1960, when Corrick earned a bachelor's degree in education at the College of Emporia. Corrick began teaching high school English in Eureka and later taught in Emporia. While in Emporia, she completed a master's degree in library science at Emporia State University. Corrick was a high school librarian at Shawnee Heights High School in Tecumseh before moving to Georgia, where she continued to work as a school librarian.

Of the 1,077 teachers recognized by KU this year, 824 have been teaching for 25 years, and 253, for more than 25 years; 79 of those have more than 30 years of teaching service.