First-grade teacher Kathy Rathbun sat with her squirming students Wednesday at an assembly to welcome Langston Hughes School’s new principal.

She kept one eye on them and one on Lisa Williams, who becomes principal in July.

Then, Rathbun was blind-sided by the real reason for this all-school gathering in the gym.

She was presented the seventh annual Bobs’ Award, which honors exceptional teachers in the Lawrence public school district. It comes with a check for $10,000.

“I want to thank everybody in this room,” she said. “This entire staff deserve this award.”

The prize coordinated by the Lawrence Schools Foundation was created by a group of educators, businessmen and community leaders who shared the first name of Bob. They prefer to remain anonymous.

Rathbun has been at Langston Hughes since the school opened in 2000. She taught previously at Kennedy and Centennial schools.

“The learning environment she creates in the classroom is fun, encouraging and focused on learning,” Principal Myron Melton said.

Supt. Randy Weseman echoed his assessment: “One of the finest educators I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”

Kathy Rathbun, a first-grade teacher at Langston Hughes School, was surprised at a school assembly Wednesday afternoon, as this year's winner of the annual Bobs' Award, a 0,000 prize to honor outstanding educators in the Lawrence public school district.

Rathbun said she was certain of only one use for the money.

“I know I’m buying lunch for all the teachers on Friday,” she said.

She’ll share some of the cash with her family, who kept news of the award secret and attended the ceremony. Her husband and two children deserve gratitude for putting up with years of evenings and weekends she spent grading papers and preparing for class projects, she said.

Rathbun said she’d invest part of the bounty on her classroom and do something special for Langston Hughes as a whole.

“I love the kids,” said Rathbun, who is convinced her place in life is in an elementary classroom. “That’s what I’ll do until the end.”

She said teaching the past few years had been a struggle, given pressure to cut spending and raise academic performance. In a replay of years past, Lawrence teachers this year are losing jobs, and academic programs are being trimmed.

To know folks — the Bobs, in this case — are paying attention to good things happening in the schools is refreshing, she said.

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“That’s cool,” she said.

Previous winners are Brian Anderson, Central Junior High School; Val Howland, Broken Arrow School; Gary Webber, Southwest Junior High School; Sue Siegfreid, Woodlawn School; Victoria Beals, South Junior High School; and Pam Bushouse, Free State High School.