CLOSED: Educator of the Year Finalists: Help Pick the Winner!

After we , we got a lot of responses. 

So, to narrow it down, we need your help. Take our poll below and vote for which teacher you think should get the award. The poll will close at midnight Friday.

After that, Stow Patch will interview the teacher with the most votes and feature them as the 2011 Educator of the Year.

Read some of the comments posted by the nominators about the finalists:

• "Mr. Monroe isnt just your teacher. He is your best friend as well. He helps you with anything and you can always go to him for help. He makes me feel like I am apart of the high school. Him doing marching band and everything has transitioned me into the high school the best. He is truly AMAZING!" — Zach Bindus

• "Mr. VanAuken is my son's favorite teacher. He is challenging and yet makes the course relevant and fun. He is preparing him for the AP euro test and for college." — Anonymous

• "Mrs. Loeffler is a full time substitute teacher who stepped into the half day kindergarten position at Woodland a few weeks into the school year.  She has done a wonderful job with keeping the same routine for the students, which is very important for the kids at that age since this is their first experience with schoo,l but has put her own flair on it.  This has not been an easy task to accomplish but she has done it well and dealt with all of the usual obstacles of kids just starting their school career." — Tracy Starnes

• "Emily Conant is an art teacher that works with hundreds of elementary students each year that range in both age and skill set.  Emily takes the time to learn about each one of them and 'play to their strengths.'  She's held student art shows where the entire school is lined with student works.  She has a passion for her work that extends beyond the classroom and works hard every day to give the students she teaches the best possible learning experience possible." — 

• "Dan Castner inspires my daughter to want to learn reading and math skills. He communicates well with parents to keep them informed of classroom progress. He collaborates with other teachers to have students work together to develop skills." — Jennifer Kramer

• "Traci Hricik was a first grade teacher at Woodland elementary, but this year is teaching 4th grade. She tweaks her activities each year, even when she taught the same grade year after year. This keeps things fresh for both her students AND herself. She embraces change and helps her students get more comfortable with it as well - an essential life skill. She TRULY individualizes instruction, celebrating each child's strengths and challenging each child to improve on areas of weakness. She is amazingly creative, genuinely respectful of children as people, endlessly patient, and not afraid to let her students see her trying something new and failing at it - yet she maintain comfortable control of her classroom and a discipline that helps everyone learn more effectively. Traci helped my two children beyond first grade (when they had her) by tutoring them in math after third grade. It is not an exaggeration to say she has made a lifelong impact on our entire family and will forever be remembered fondly as one of the best teachers my children ever had in Stow." — Debbie Schinker

• "Mrs. Badar has transformed this anti-english-class student into an avid participator in all things English. I have always hated English classes, but this year my 4th period English CP with Mrs. Badar is the class I look forward to most each day. She is extremely organized; she has the weeks schedule posted on Progress Book which really helps students with time management. We always stay on task in class, she had excellent control over the class by keeping the students interested and participating. Her passion for all things English inspires her students to learn the material. Mrs. Badar should be Stow Patch's educator of the year because she is very organized helping students stay on task, she knows and enjoys the material she is teaching which inspires her students to do the same and she has turned this student into an English-lover." — Monique Rovelsky

• "Mrs. Timberlake is so caring, nice just an absolute great person inside and out. Loves kids and treats everyone including the parents with respect. You can tell she loves her job and takes pride in doing it. Every child loves her and is very sad when the year ends and they have to move on. Stow should be proud to have such a beautiful person on the pay roll." — Robin

• "We are very fortunate to have many outstanding educators in our system but of all the teachers my son has had to date Mr. Scelza at the High School stands out as having the most positive impact on my son. Mr. Scelza is an outstanding educator inside and outside the classroom. He has a unique gift for teaching mathematics and creating a learning environment that is both challenging and fun." — Rob Baker

• "Michelle Detwiler has established a great rapport with her students' and she is very intelligent and knowledgeable about language arts. She is also dedicated and driven and truly cares for her students' and staff." — Melinda Cavanaugh