Debra Williams holds up her check for Sunset Hill students to see, after she was selected the 2016 Lawrence Elementary Teacher of the Year during a school assembly at Sunset Hill at East Heights Monday. Williams is Sunset Hill Elementary special education interrelated resource teacher.

The assembled Sunset Hill Elementary students cheered so much that they had to be asked to quiet down so that the Lawrence Elementary Teacher of the Year presentation could continue.

Debra Williams, who works as a special education resource teacher at the school, was awarded the honor during a surprise assembly Monday afternoon. Williams was presented with a check for $1,000 as part of the award, sending the students into another round of cheering.

“Boys and girls, thank you so much,” Williams told the students. “It is such an honor to come here to school and to be your teacher every single day. I love every single person in this building, and I’m so grateful and I’m so humbled by this.”

Lawrence Superintendent Rick Doll made the announcement to Sunset Hill teachers, staff and students who gathered in the gymnasium.

“I’m glad we had the chance to come over today to celebrate one of your teachers who’s very, very special,” Doll said. “We also want to stop and thank all of our teachers, because teachers are the heart and soul of our school district; they’re what make things happen every day in the classroom.”

The school district annually selects an elementary and a secondary Teacher of the Year for local recognition. A representative of Truity Credit Union, one of the district’s Lawrence Education Achievement Partners, presented Williams with the $1,000 check.

After the presentation, Williams said it was a lot of fun to watch the students’ reactions to the announcement.

“They seemed really excited, but that’s the way our students are,” Williams said. “All of our students are always very excited, and we celebrate each other in this building.”

Williams has worked in education for 22 years, and has served as a special education resource teacher at Sunset Hill since 2009. Prior to that, she was a parent-educator for five years with Lawrence Parents as Teachers, a support program for parents of young children. Williams said that when helping students, she tries to have a personal and flexible approach.

“I do what I feel like each child needs in order for that child to be successful as they go through each day of school,” she said.

Williams’ dedication to personalizing lessons was one of the qualities cited in her nomination for the honor.

“She spends countless hours designing her lessons to meet the needs of students in the least invasive way possible, juggling para-professional schedules and being our ‘go-to’ crisis manager without missing a beat,” said Sunset Hill Principal Darcy Kraus, in a news release.

Williams earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Missouri. Prior to her time in Lawrence, she taught four years in Tonganoxie and six years in Blue Springs, Mo., and Columbia, Mo.

As the Lawrence Elementary Teacher of the Year, Williams will be nominated for the Kansas State Department of Education’s Kansas Teacher of the Year program. The announcement of the Lawrence Secondary Teacher of the Year will be made later this week.