(Photo courtesy of
Joel Nichols,
Photographer at Winthrop University)
Erskine Graduate
Named Teacher of the Year
“It's hard to get any better than this,”
said York school district's only special education
teacher for profoundly disabled students, Leslie
Ann Johannesmeyer '95 Howell, named York School
District Teacher of the Year, according to the Aug.
18 edition of the Rock Hill Herald.
Her students called her “Mamma,” unable
to pronounce her maiden name. Howell got married this
summer, and with her new surname, perhaps that will
change. But Howell's commitment to the children and
enthusiasm for her work with them will remain.
Howell has been teaching for four years, and was
“caught off guard” by the honor given her
this summer, noted her principal, Matt Brown of
Cotton Belt Elemetnary School. “She's just
exceptional at what she does. Her love for children
is extraordinary ... If all the teachers were like
Leslie Ann, then it would be an amazing system.”
“I wasn't thinking that someone with four
years would represent the district,” Howell
said. Though she was surprised to receive the award,
she knows she is in the right job because of the joy
she feels going to work each day.
“They are absolutely precious,” Howell
says of her students. “I come to work knowing
I'm going to get blessed. You just get excited about
the small things.”
Howell received a trophy and a $100 check from
Sediver Corporation in York, and in addition will
represent the York district in the statewide Teacher
of the Year contest.
