Camden Central School District -

Whenever generations of McConnellsville students, teachers, and staff need a helping hand, it has never been far away. That is always the case when Carol Stauring is around. The longtime McConnellsville teacher is the recipient of the 2023-24 “Seed of Selflessness” award from the Camden Central School District. The honors were presented in a special ceremony prior to the District’s Board of Education meeting on June 11th.

The purpose of the Seed of Selflessness Award, as established by the Camden Board of Education, is to recognize the individual who best represents one or more of the following criteria:

• Has chaired or participated in community and/or school committees that help to improve our school district.

• Has significantly changed the lives of youngsters while motivating them to realize their full character potential.

• Has volunteered or performed these additional assignments inside and outside of normal working hours.

Stauring has been doing all three of these things for 29 years, which prompted colleagues Julie Blaich, Carrie Hollis and Jill Tompkins to put forth a nomination. She started with the district as a substitute teacher in 1995, and constantly advanced and evolved from there, after filling a variety of roles, she landed an opportunity as a media specialist for the 1997-98 school year, then moved into full-time teaching in 1998 as a Pre-K Teacher. She continued teaching Pre-K until the opportunity to move to Kindergarten arose in 2005, where she has spent the bulk of her career at Camden. She taught Kindergarten through the 2022-23 school year, when a new opportunity arose to become McConnellville’s Multi Tier System of Supports teacher.

As the MTSS teacher, she works directly with students in need of additional support, and is the building’s point person for “Science of Reading” instruction through The Reading League. She also supports teachers with data collection through the administration of benchmark assessments, and runs data meetings with teachers where they go over their progress, and works closely with the Reading League to develop plans of action based on that data to improve student outcomes.

Regardless of the role she’s played in our District, Carol has made it very clear that her support of all students stands above all else in the work she does.

“Carol’s passion for the students of McConnellsville is well known,” her nominators said. “She always has a hug and a positive comment for any student she encounters, whether she’s had them in class or not. She gives her all to the students she sees.”

If you need proof, go to just about any major event in the District. At any grade level or building, if she has the time to be there, there’s a good chance she will be. She loves theater and can regularly be seen supporting the theater department cast and crew with meals during those busy rehearsal weeks. She served as the McConnellsville PTO Treasurer long after her daughter moved up from fourth grade. Whether it’s a district-wide event like homecoming, or a building event like pajama game night, you can count on Carol to be there and make every person’s day better for it. She has recently volunteered to help our youngest learners as they transition to school age by working with our “Look At Me, I’m Three!” program, and does so after teaching all day.

Her impact on students is so significant, it is not uncommon for her to receive invitations to her students’ graduation parties several years later. 

Carol has also amassed a larger-than-life reputation for her generosity to her colleagues and the Camden community. She has been an active member of the Camden Teachers’ Association for many years. Whenever a colleague or a student comes through with a fundraiser, Carol is one of the first to give. She is a tremendous problem-solver for others. Her knowledge of technology has taught many of her colleagues something new, or gotten them out of a predicament. Because McConnellsville is a few miles away from any place to purchase snacks or drinks, she helped her colleagues by organizing the purchase of a beverage fridge for faculty and staff to buy beverages during the school day, and agreed to maintain the stock and manage funds when the original plan to bring in a vending machine fell through.