A Livingston County educator who goes above and beyond for his students and school has been honored with an Excellence in Education award from the Michigan Lottery.

The award winner, Jonathan Stolle, is the Student Services Advisor at Howell High School. The school is part of Howell 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 Stolle will air this evening.

“Mr. Stolle goes above and beyond for his students and colleagues and wears many different hats within his school,” said Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli. “In addition to being a Student Services Advisor, he is also a coach, helps tutor students, and takes the extra step to build relationships with students on a daily basis. He is an inspiration and is the definition of a dedicated educator.”

Stolle says he wanted to be an educator because of the positive influence his teachers had on him and that helping students find what they are ionate about is what drives him to be an educator.

“I wanted to be an educator because so many educators had a positive influence on my upbringing. I wanted to be a positive influence for others in the same way so many of my teachers were for me.

“Helping students find what they are ionate about and making a difference in the community is what drives me to be an educator and keeps me going.”

Stolle was nominated for the award by a colleague.

“Mr. Stolle goes above and beyond in everything that he does. He is exactly what this world needs more of as an educator. Mr. Stolle’s job title is Student Services Advisor, and he is perhaps the greatest school leader that I have encountered in my 16-year career. As a part of his regular job, Mr. Stolle is constantly empowering students to make good decisions and reflect on how their actions impact themselves and the community around them. He is a master at building positive and trusting relationships with students and the entire school community. He is unique in that he can balance teaching students how to be able while still showing a tremendous amount of love and care for every student that he works with.”

Stolle earned a bachelor’s degree from Grand Valley State University and a master’s degree from Marygrove College. He has been an educator for 16 years, the last six 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.