It is evident that Katie Menges, loves her job as the Chorus teacher at Lewis School. It is also evident that she loves her job as a member of the Air National Guard. For the last twenty years, Mrs. Menges has served our country by deploying overseas and serving TDYs to help after national disasters. Her base is in South Dakota, which makes her monthly duties even more difficult, but she has unconditional support from the administration at Lewis School.
On Tuesday Mrs. Menges presented Ms. Lindsay Smith, Principal of Lewis School, and Assistant Principals Mr. Jordan Berry and Ms. Amy Pendleton, with the “My Boss is a Patriot Award” to show her appreciation for the support they provide for her to work both jobs she loves. “It’s hard for me to tell my students that I’m deploying,” Menges said. “My Guard unit also knows how important my teaching job is, there have been times when they have rearranged schedules to make things a little easier.” When presenting the award, she mentioned that “without support from administration, my job would be 2-3 times harder.”
The ”My Boss is a Patriot Award” is a Department of Defense Award that usually goes to one supervisor who provides support to the employee/nominator, but Mrs. Menges managed to get four- she also gave one to Dr. Jason Driver, past principal of Lewis, who could not attend. Superintendent Chambers thanked Mrs. Menges for her service and echoed her appreciation for the of leadership at Lewis School. “Lewis has always had exceptional leadership," said Mr. Chambers. "I am thankful that you are able to serve our country and proud that you feel supported by your administration at Lewis when you do so."