Lockport High School District 205 Foundation honors band teacher, bus driver

The Lockport Township High School District 205 Foundation recently honored school faculty and staff with its 2024 awards.

The awards were presented Tuesday, May 28, during the high school’s all-employee meeting at the close of the school year, according to a news release from the school district.

Anna Mudroch was selected as this year’s recipient of the William and Mildred Jackson Teacher Recognition Award, which honors an educator who has exhibited special skills in the art and science of teaching.

New this year, the foundation awarded the first Golden Key Award to bus driver Robert Friebel for his daily commitment and dedication to District 205, according to the release.

The William and Mildred Jackson Teacher Recognition Award is sponsored by Lockport alumni Robert Carr and Jill Jackson Carr through the Give Something Back Foundation. The award is named after Mrs. Carr’s late parents, William Jackson, who taught science and coached golf and track at the school from 1958 to 1982, and Mildred Jackson, who provided music lessons for many children in the Lockport community, according to the release.

For almost seven years, Mudroch has served in the Visual and Performing Arts Department as a band teacher and associate director of bands.

Upon receiving the award, Mudroch said: “I want to thank the students who nominated me for this award. They continue to help me grow as a teacher and, perhaps most importantly, as a human being. I am eternally grateful for their ongoing support and dedication to the band program at LTHS and consider myself fortunate to teach in a community that supports the arts.

“Additionally, I am so grateful to the LTHS Foundation for awarding me the William & Mildred Jackson Award, and I feel very honored. This honor has truly made my year.”

The award was presented by Mudroch’s students as a surprise. The recipient of this annual award, which includes a certificate and cash prize, is chosen by a committee of administrators, teachers and students, according to the release.

New this year, the foundation awarded the first Golden Key Award to Robert Friebel for his daily commitment and dedication to District 205. He has served in the Transportation Department as a bus driver for 21 years.

Friebel was surprised with the Golden Key Award by the LTHS baseball team, with the players and coaches expressing their gratitude for having him as their bus driver to all of their baseball games. Friebel also would attend their home and away games on his days off, according to the release.

“The LTHS Foundation decided to add the Golden Key Award this year, as it became undeniably clear that our district has the most amazing bus drivers,” Angela Adolf, director of development and executive director of the foundation, said in a news release. “With the need to extend bus routes and ask our bus drivers to work longer routes and longer hours, this team of amazing professionals stepped up to the plate and made sure all our students were able to come to school with as little disruption as possible.

“Our school district simply could not function without this wonderful group of people dedicated to our students. We always want our bus drivers to know they play a key role in our students’ education, and we hope the Golden Key Award reminds them of this.”

The LTHS Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to enriching the lives of all students, staff and community members through extraordinary learning experiences and opportunities anchored in equity and inclusion, according to the release.