CSC graduates honored
Two Chadron State College graduates and another person who attended CSC two years before transferring to medical school, recently received special honors.
Sherry Retzlaff of Rushville, a 1980 graduate of Chadron State, was the fourth recipient of the Nebraska State Education Association’s Award for Teaching Excellence this spring while Dr. Jeff King, a Gordon native who graduated from CSC in 1994, was named Nebraska’s Young Physician of the Year.
Retzlaff has been teaching junior high math and serving as the guidance counselor at Rushville High School. She will be a finalist for the National Education Association Award for Teaching Excellence to be given in Washington, D.C. in December.
Retzlaff also was one of seven Nebraska teachers to receive the Ike Friedman Teacher Leadership Award presented by Ak-Sar-Ben last month. This award is given for leadership in school and community activities. It includes a $750 stipend, which she gave to the Rushville Schools to help start a pre-school program.
Unfortunately, Retzlaff was one of several Rushville teachers who was affected by Reduction-in-Force action made necessary by declining enrollment and state aid this spring. She will continue as the part-time guidance counselor and is hoping to work in that capacity with another school.
Dr. King was one of the first students accepted into the Rural Health Opportunities Program at Chadron State in 1990. After attending Chadron State, he received his professional training at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine. He now practices at the Saint Francis Medical Center Grand Island. He was honored by the Nebraska Medical Association as the state’s outstanding young physician for his overall service and specifically for helping with the disastrous fire in Wood River that claimed the lives to two firemen in February.
Also receiving a special honor recently was Stacie Koehler of Pierce, who attended Chadron State College in 2000-01 and 2001-02 before transferring to the University of Nebraska Medical Center to study radiography, She was one of four students at the May 2004 commencement at UNMC, to graduate “with highest distinction.”
Koehler is planning to return to Chadron State this fall to take more science courses and to run for the CSC track team.
Category: Campus News