Jeri Kramer Named April Laker Champion for Kids

Calloway County Schools have named Jeri Kramer as the April Laker Champion for Kids. Kramer is a district-wide special education teacher serving multiple schools. She is also the head softball coach for CCHS and CCMS.

The Laker Champion for Kids is awarded each month to a Laker staff member who goes above and beyond for students and colleagues.

Kramer was nominated by East teacher Christie Swann and CCMS speech-language pathologist Abby Sykes.

“I tried to think of an eloquent way to express all that she does for our kids and for the teachers who work with them, but I could not find just the right words,” wrote Swann. “I think the best I can do is to say that she does anything and everything that she can do to meet every need that arises. She has a special touch with our friends with autism. She is firm when she has to be and kind and gentle at every opportunity. She is present at every school in the district, and it sometimes seems she is present at all of the schools in the span of one day. She is the autism consultant, the teacher for our hearing-impaired students, a case manager, an ARC chairperson, a leader in the special education department at the high school, a bus driver, the head coach for the CCMS and CCHS girls' softball teams, and a sounding board for many of us. She fills in wherever she is needed and manages to do the work with a smile and a calm spirit. Her official title of ‘itinerant special education teacher’ in no way describes the magnitude of her job. She does not accept praise or gratitude easily, but I cannot think of anyone who is more deserving of recognition for all she does for students and colleagues throughout the district.”

Sykes nominated Kramer for her work behind the scenes in the district.

“Typically, there are two types of individuals helping the world go around: those the public sees and those who work behind the scenes assuring everything keeps moving effectively,” wrote Sykes. “People like her are the quiet unsung heroes who never desire the accolades associated with public view.”

“She is one of the district leaders who taught me to not only serve the students with their minutes, but to serve them and their families like Him. Thankfully, I am blessed with beginning my career alongside one of my heroes for children and now working daily with her to serve our students as her career closes.  She optimizes our district's wide vision - ‘Every student matters.’  She believes and practices what sets our district apart from all the others - to do right by the child no matter what. There is no district wide employee who could love our children more.”