Paul Craigmile is a Columbia local and traces his educational roots to our Columbia Public Schools (shout out to Russell Blvd. Elementary, West Middle School, and Rock Bridge High School) and Mizzou. While he has deep local roots, his work with Mizzou Academy includes giving feedback to students from around the globe. Paul excels at this, and his talents for compassion, encouragement, and teaching have not gone unnoticed. 

On Wednesday, October 19, Paul Craigmile was named the Mizzou Academy 2022 Fall Honor Award Recipient. The announcement came at an enthusiastic zoom meeting and was a “complete surprise” to Paul who serves as an instructional specialist on our personal development team. In his five years with Mizzou Academy, Paul has served in many content areas, winning the affection of our lead teachers and the students he works with. 

The Mizzou Academy Honor Award celebrates, appreciates, and honors the contributions of our team. The quarterly, peer-nominated award is open to all Mizzou Academy employees. Each quarter, a committee from the administrative team has the difficult task of sorting through exceptional nominations to select a single recipient. They base this decision on the nominee’s work toward our mission, vision, values, and strategic priorities. 

Paul’s nominations for this award were extensive. One person wrote, “Paul is one of the best specialists I have ever worked with at Mizzou Academy. He is devoted to his role with our scholars. He always upholds the highest professional standards. He is a pleasure to work with and is a man of great integrity.” 

Another added, “On our team, Paul runs the anchor leg. Paul’s ability to handle any tidal wave of submissions (which come at us hard and often) with his signature calm, good humor, and expertise is invaluable. We quite simply could not do what we do without him.”

Still a third said, “Our team relies on Paul almost as much as we adore him. (Almost.) He quietly carries so much on his expert shoulders, and he deserves every standing ovation and measure of acclaim and appreciation we can express.” 

The nominations continued for multiple pages. In addition to the above, nominators also commented on what a great human being he is, including how proud he is of his grandchildren, the band he plays in, and his spot-on sense of humor. 

This last nomination summed it up the best: “Paul’s commitment to excellence and student learning provide examples to me of the kind of teacher and leader I strive to be each day.”

At the meeting, the team also celebrated Honor Award nominations for the following five professionals: 

• Lisa DeCastro, elementary coordinator
• Greg Soden, lead teacher
• Kathryn Fishman-Weaver, executive director 
• Jean Zenner, registrar
• Lisa Bax, technology resource coordinator 

These professionals span our teams and embody the Mizzou Academy core values of inclusion, innovation, partnership, and access. At the meeting, we celebrated compassion, creativity, problem-solving, a commitment to accessibility and inclusion, work ethic, and dedication. 

Angie Hammons, our director of curriculum and IT, led the review committee this quarter. She wanted to keep the results a surprise from Dr. Fishman-Weaver who didn’t know she had been nominated. Angie said, “We like to be able to surprise each other, and these honor award celebrations are a special time to do just that.” 

The quarterly celebrations bring the team together and shine a bright light on some of the best traits and local heroes of our school community. Congratulations to Paul Craigmile and everyone recognized this quarter!