WHEATLAND – Platte County School District No. 1 awarded the Support Person of the Year and Teacher of the year to LaWanda Shmidl and Lisa McIntosh, respectively, at the April board meeting held in Wheatland on April 14.

LaWanda Shmidl, secretary of Wheatland High School is this year’s Support Person of the year. Principal Sandlian read letters of support from teachers and students alike remarking on her dedication and hard work to the school and students. She has been secretary at the High School since 2017, but her journey with “Platte #1” started when her oldest son started kindergarten and she worked at Libbey as a para educator back in 1998. After he moved on from Libbey she joined the SPED classroom at the high school, retired from there in 2016, tried to stay away and then came back as a substitute teacher before accepting the secretary position in 2017.

“I’ve been working here with all sorts of wonderful people and the students of course, they’re the best,” remarked Shmidl. When asked if she had any memorable stories she replied, “not ones I can repeat.”

Teacher of the year Lisa McIntosh started out college studying in veterinary science and then pharmacy before making the switch to education. She credits working as a dance teacher for the trajectory.

“I liked teaching dance so much, I wanted to go that direction,” McIntosh explained. “I wanted to do something that would be fun every day.”

She is finishing her eighth year teaching for PCSD No.1 and she has bounced around a bit in the district. Right now, she is a science teacher at Wheatland Middle School, but she started out in Glendo. Next year she will be teaching math where she started: Glendo junior high and high school. McIntosh explained she liked the smaller class sizes to really connect with her students and offer more involved instruction. When asked what she has learned from her students these years she said with a smile, “patience and grace.”