S – B Teacher Receives State’s VFW Award

The Thorp Courier (Thorp, WI)
February 20, 2008
Transcribed by Dolores Mohr Kenyon

Most of us can remember a truly great teacher, one who taught with books and direction, who inspired with patience and generosity, and who coaxed with a gentle hand and a tender heart.

Since 1999, the Veterans of Foreign Wars has sought to recognize and reward those teachers who foster a greater appreciation for America, its history and our values.  Stanley’s VFW Post 2711 is proud to have recommended that Mrs. Dianne Rasmussen be granted the National Citizenship Education Teacher Award.

While she was working in her Master of Education-Professional Development program, Mrs. Rasmussen developed a new format for her Advanced Prose class at Stanley-Boyd high school.  She wanted her classes to be more meaningful for her students, and to help them develop a stronger sense of community.  She also wanted her students to recognize and honor those who served in America’s armed forces.

Her father, Frank Klawiter, is a WWII Navy veteran and a retired teacher with more than 3 decades of classroom experience.  He helped Mrs. Rasmussen develop a procedure for her students to use when interviewing veterans.  Since that time, her students have written seven volumes of veterans’ stories about their military experiences.

Each Advance Prose class has been allowed to choose most of the missions and goals they wanted to accomplish during that school year.  By allowing them freedom of choice, her students have responded with enthusiasm and creativity.  In addition to their assigned work, all the students in her Advanced Prose classes have performed some kind of community service.

During their last days and months in high school, Mrs. Rasmussen’s students exhibited growing personal initiative and increased self-reliance.  They were required to pay for the additional activities, including the printing and binding of the veterans’ books.  They contributed copies of those books to the local museum and to the Wisconsin High Ground Veterans Memorial.  Each veteran was given a copy of the volume that included their military experiences.

The Advanced Prose students worked with the local VFW and American Legion to coordinate Veterans Day programs, and then provided a lunch for the men and women who helped protect our nation.

Their teacher worked together with her students to find community projects where their labor and money could be used to help their neighbors.  They worked side by side, and learned that teamwork and loyalty were essential to the accomplishment of their goals.

There was no extra tax money used for any of their donations or expenses.  All the funding to pay for their projects was earned by the students on their own time.  They collected and sold cans, thrift sales, candy sales, and bake sales.  They sold and served breakfasts and they wrote grant applications.  Her students learned that paying your own way is an important part of integrity and responsibility.

Those senior class students had only signed up for an Advanced Prose class led by an English teacher.  They did learn a lot about gathering information and about writing – and so much more.  They learned that to serve your neighbors and your nation is both a responsibility and an honor.  They discovered that where there is need, teamwork and generosity can ease life’s burdens.

For many years, the young students who entered Mrs. Rasmussen’s class found both a teacher and a friend.  With prodding and guidance, they have learned much about themselves, and have grown more confident in their abilities to succeed in all of life’s challenges.

They have left a record of veterans’ memories for generations yet to come.  And though they entered her class as young students, they departed as more mature young adults, with a greater appreciation for this nation, and for the gift of freedom that is their right, and their obligation to defend.

For her work, and for her achievements, the Veterans of Foreign Wars for the State of Wisconsin has selected Mrs. Dianne Rasmussen to receive our state’s Citizenship Education Teacher Award.  She is a winner in our state – and in the eyes of her students.

It is rare to find a professional teacher who conveys the caring, the warmth and the leadership that inspires students to give so much of themselves, of their own free will, and on their own time.  She does all that while instilling a strong sense of patriotism in our nation’s future leaders.  Mrs. Rasmussen is an exceptional educator, one who truly represents America’s highest values.