An Osceola County educator known for creating a welcoming environment has been honored with an Excellence In Education award from the Michigan Lottery.

The award winner, Ted Marthakis, is a high school math teacher at Evart High School. The school is part of Evart Public Schools.

The Michigan Lottery established the Excellence In Education awards in 2014 to recognize outstanding public-school educators across the state during the school year.

Winners of the weekly award receive a $2,000 cash prize. At the end of the school year, one of the weekly award winners will be selected to receive the Lottery’s Educator of the Year award and will receive a $10,000 cash prize.

Each winner also is featured in a news segment on the Lottery’s media partner stations: WXYZ-TV in Detroit, FOX 17 in Grand Rapids, FOX 47 in Lansing, WNEM-TV in Saginaw, and WWTV-TV in Traverse City. The news segment featuring Marthakis will air this evening.

“Ted Marthakis decided to pursue a career as an educator after a successful career as an electrical engineer because he wanted to inspire students,” said Lottery Commissioner, Suzanna Shkreli. “He has certainly done that, and more, for his students in Evart. His approach to educating students has created an environment that allows them to thrive. I am honored to present him with the Excellence in Education award.”

Marthakis says the thought of inspiring students led him to pursue a career as an educator.

“I was initially attracted to becoming a teacher through movie depictions of teachers. I thought: ‘How wonderful it would be to become the person who inspires students to believe in themselves and become someone better because of a teacher.’ It’s still what drives me today.”

Marthakis was nominated for the award by a student.

“Mr. Marthakis deserves this award because he is very engaged with his students and genuinely cares about teaching. In our school he is known as ‘the king of dad jokes’ because he always has a joke up his sleeve, no matter how corny it may be. He creates a very friendly atmosphere in his classroom to where even a shy person like me feels welcomed and comfortable. He never fails to make the class laugh on a daily basis. He also is able to connect with students on almost anything. If someone talks about playing piano, he will start talking to them about what their favorite piece of music is because he also plays piano. He makes sure to lay a good foundation and basic understanding to make sure everyone understands the concept. If he senses the class isn’t really getting a concept (which he is somehow good at just knowing) he will go over it again. Even people who don’t typically do well in school can grasp hard concepts in his class.”

Marthakis earned a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University. He has worked in education for 13 years, the last eight in his current position.

Excellence in Education award nominees are evaluated on the following criteria:

• Excellence – Their work consistently helps students and/or their schools or school districts advance to higher levels of academic achievement.
• Dedication – They consistently go above and beyond expectations to help students succeed.
• Inspiration – Their work inspires others around them to exceed expectations either academically or professionally.
• Leadership – They demonstrate clear leadership skills in their positions with their school or school districts.
• Effectiveness – The nominee’s work has clear and positive results on the educational advancement of students within the school or school district.