Four Danville School District 118 teachers are the latest to receive the Dr. David L. Fields Excellence in Teaching Award. The Danville Public School Foundation and District 118 announced the recipients. They are Scott Stewart from Meade Park Elementary School, Joanna Howard, who teaches at Danville High School, and a husband and wife team – Mathew Skovran, who teaches at South View Upper Elementary School, and his wife, Jamie Skovran, a teacher at the Kenneth D. Bailey Academy.
Stewart has been teaching for 31 years with Danville District 118. He says he loves the family atmosphere at Meade Park and the devoted staff.
Joanna Howard has taught at Danville High School the past 20 years.
Howard says she enjoys watching as her students become more successful, and understand the concepts and life-lessons that present themselves ‘’It is even more amazing to hear from them post-graduation, when they realize the impact of what they learned and have had the opportunity to apply it,’’ she added.
Matt Skovran is in his twentieth year of teaching at South View Upper Elementary School.
Skovran says the best part of teaching are the ‘’light bulb moments, when a child’s face lights up like a light bulb, glowing with excitement, confidence, and knowledge.’’
Skovran’s wife, Jamie, who teaches at the Kenneth D. Bailey Academy, says her two favorite things about teaching are the relationships she gets to build with kids and working with a staff that is always striving to put kids first.
Mrs. Skovran also wanted everyone to know that the photo for this story was taken by talented and soon-to-be 2020 DHS graduate Mackenzie Kizer.
The awards are normally presented during the Danville Public School Foundation’s ‘Evening of Singing and Dancing’ at Danville High School, which was cancelled last month because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
