Juneau Empire
Boise State University and Alan and Wendy Pesky, founders of the Lee Pesky Learning Center, are honoring Craig High School and teacher Shelby Beck.
Beck, along with three teachers from the Lower 48, was honored as an outstanding and inspirational K-12 teacher with the seventh annual Pesky Award for Inspirational Teaching.
The awards were presented during Boise State’s winter commencement ceremony on Dec. 16.
The Pesky Award for Inspirational Teaching, presented in collaboration with Boise State’s College of Education, recognizes K-12 teachers who made a major difference in the lives of their students and inspired them to pursue a career in teaching. Each of the four teachers will receive $2,000 and their schools will receive $500 each. Beck, who teaches at Craig High School on Prince of Wales, was nominated by Joe Weyhmiller.
Alan and Wendy Pesky founded the Lee Pesky Learning Center in 1997, headquartered in Boise, in honor of their son Lee, who passed away in 1995 at age 30 from a brain tumor. As a child, he had to learn skills to overcome processing and dysgraphia, a problem with organizing letters, numbers and words on a line or page.
The center created in his name focuses on giving children and adults with learning disabilities, as well as those less privileged, the tools they need to succeed in school.
“Wendy and I established the Pesky Award for Inspirational Teaching seven years ago to express our belief for the important role teachers play in the future of our country,” Alan said. “We believe there is nothing more important in this regard than K-12 teachers of a child. It is our desire to do what we can to give the teaching profession the respect it rightfully deserves by establishing this award.”
