We have a celebrity in our midst; Ms. Obert has won the Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award on March 22, 2018. This prestigious award is given to outstanding educators who have an infectious passion to inspire the youth. In addition to an award, each teacher is given $10,000 in appreciation of their hard work and empathy. This year, Obert was one of  four winners.

In order to be recognized, a teacher must be nominated by a past student of the nominee, and in this case it was 2010 valedictorian Priyan Wickremesinghe. In his nomination letter, he said “…She took me aside and explained to me that I should never settle for mediocrity in life. Her words have never left my mind, and the lessons she instilled within me have been the fuel for my academic success thus far in life.”

Many people were overjoyed to see Ms. Obert be rewarded for the compassion she shows to her students every single day. A student in her IB Biology class said, “I’ve never met someone that appreciates the fact that I say ‘good morning’ every day out of good habit, until I had Ms. Obert. She is undoubtedly my favorite teacher. I’ve never met someone so invested in a child’s future. She has impacted hundreds of futures with her radiant personality and her persevering motivation, I am so happy she was given this award.” 

Ms. Obert was happy to receive this award, her full acceptance speech can be found on the award website. She said, “I’m overjoyed, I can’t wait to tell my parents. Everything I said in my accepting speech is true, it’s all about the kids.”