Longtime Fayette teacher Terry Bentley was named the 2024 Distinguished Citizen of the Year by the Fayette Board of Education Wednesday night. Daly Elementary third-grade teacher Adrian Stumbaugh was honored as the Lincoln Public School Teacher of the Year.

Each year, the school board selects one person who has been a dedicated servant to the community and school district. The awards were bestowed as a part of the annual Board of Education awards ceremony held in the high school gym.

Bentley has been a part of the Fayette public school for more than four decades, both as an elementary school teacher and a substitute teacher. She is also a staple of the sidelines for Fayette High School basketball and softball games, serving as the teams’ scorekeeper.

Stumbaugh was recognized as the Teacher of the Year by the Lincoln Public School Memorial Committee. The honor is named in memoriam of the former Lincoln Public School, which served Fayette’s black students until the public schools were integrated in the 1950s and 1960s. Located on Hackberry Street, the building was eventually torn down, but a memorial now stands on the school’s former site. 

Each year the committee honors one teacher who displays devotion (shows compassion to all students), is caring (takes time to establish a trusting and caring connection with the students), is passionate (engages students in the excitement of learning), displays a personal interest (willing to take necessary time to work with students one-on-one), responsibly manages school resources entrusted to them (effectively utilizes resources to create a learning environment), and who is a dedicated public servant (plays an active and useful role in the school and community).

Also honored were students in grades 6-12 who maintained 3.45 grade-point averages or better on a 4.0-point scale for the first three quarters of the school year. Teachers also give individual awards to students who demonstrate high academic achievement.