The 2020-21 school year has provided its share of surprises for teacher Daniel Friedel.

In October, he and his wife learned they will be welcoming twins into the world around the conclusion of this semester. Last week, the high school social studies instructor received the latest round of exciting news: the announcement that he had been selected as the Wright City R-II School District Teacher of the Year.

“It’s a big honor to be chosen,” said Friedel, who is in only his second year with the district. “I feel like there’s a lot of great teachers in our building. Being around them for the last couple of years, they’ve taught me a ton.”

Friedel, who was nominated by his peers, came to Wright City after teaching two years at Van-Far. He taught world history last year but has shifted his focus solely to teaching Advanced Placement government to seniors during the pandemic. 

“He really makes every effort to reach out to kids and gets to know all of his kids, and I think that’s what helps set him apart from others,” said R-II Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Way.

This was not the first time Friedel has been recognized, as members of the 2020 senior class chose him to speak at their commencement ceremony last July.

“I think for me, the biggest thing in my career is trying to build solid relationships with each kid,” said Friedel. “The pedagogy and lesson plans are important, but I feel like if you don’t have good relationships with students, you make it a lot harder on yourself. I’ve always tried to focus on relationships first and build off that.”

The St. Charles native has also served as varsity girls basketball coach for the Wildcats for the past two years. He previously worked at Drury University in Springfield, before returning to this area.

As a result of being chosen teacher of the year, Friedel will be able to attend a conference of his choice, covered by the district. 

Staff of the Year

For Wright City West Elementary Nurse Kelly Leary, it was last school year that brought the surprises and this year followed with a tremendous learning curve. Faced with the constant challenge of keeping students and staff safe during COVID-19, Leary has risen to the occasion. It was, in large part, the reason she was recognized as R-II Staff Person of the Year by her peers for a second straight year — an honor never before attained consecutively.  

“It’s a really awesome feeling knowing that people see how hard I’m working, this year especially, and that people support me and notice,” said Leary. “I really care about the kids, and I think the teachers see that.”

This year Leary asserted herself into the lead position of handling contact tracing for the school to track and limit the spread of COVID-19.

“I took the COVID contact tracing role and ran with it,” said Leary. “We started doing it as a team, and I quickly realized I could take it on and let others handle other responsibilities.”

Way said Leary is an excellent member of the nursing staff in the district, which has been put on the front lines to keep students in school while minimizing exposure to the virus.

“With our nurses across the board, this has got to be one of the toughest 12-month periods for them,” said Way. “In the past they’ve been charged with keeping students safe, and it’s intensified this year. With Kelly, she’s very professional, knowledgeable and quite impressive at what she does.”

Prior to joining R-II, Leary worked for Mercy Hospital and had long before aspired to become a nurse. Since being in the district, she has implemented instrumental resources, including the free vision care and glasses program for students. Last year 44 students received free glasses.

“It was a really amazing feeling knowing I was responsible for that,” said Leary. “The kids would get off the bus wearing their new glasses, and it was such a good feeling.”