Louella Manlegro, a special education teacher at Gallup High School, received the “Teacher of the Month” award from Camille’s Sidewalk Café in May. This month she is taking home the “Teacher of the Year” award.
Camille’s Sidewalk Café selected a teacher each month from January to May of 2021 to be recognized and celebrated from within the Gallup area. Nominees are selected based on votes from students and their families on how and why they feel their teacher deserves the award of “Teacher of the Month.”
The “Teacher of the Year” is picked out of that year’s monthly winners at random, and Manlegro got the prize. She was one of five teachers in the drawing.
“Louella is an amazing teacher and it’s been an honor awarding her these two times,” Bryanny Rich, Camille’s director of marketing and advertising said in an interview with the Sun. “She definitely deserves it.
“The things that people wrote about her are just amazing and meeting her you can really just feel her passion for the kids, which is really amazing and admirable,” Rich said.
Manlegro admitted she was surprised to be getting the award so soon after she won the first one. “I thought ‘wait a minute, that was too fast,’” she said chuckling.
Camille’s gives out an Amazon gift card to the Teacher of the Year recipient and the winner also gets their name engraved on an apple with their school’s name on it. The monthly award recipient gets a gift basket filled with self-care items.
Manlegro went back and forth when trying to figure out how she would spend the Amazon gift card. Ultimately, she decided to buy a blood pressure cuff to help her keep track of her health.
She said she was on the go a lot — that people could often find her working in her classroom as late as 7 pm. She’s taking time now to slow things down and pay attention to her mental and physical health. But she said that doesn’t mean she isn’t still passionate about teaching.
“Being chosen for this one [award, it’s] kind of a reminder and motivating me all the more because I have a mission to do,” she stated.
While she may talk about slowing down, Manlegro continues working to improve herself for the sake of her students. She is currently enrolled at Grand Canyon University where she is working toward her master’s degree in special education.
By: Molly Adamson
Sun Correspondent
