The Lewis Award Committee has announced the three Finalists for the 2012-2013 Award Year. The Finalists are Mrs. Karen Dries of St. Michael School, Cary; Mr. Joseph Hughes of St. Peter School, Greenville; and Mrs. Amy Parent, Our Lady of Lourdes School, Raleigh.

Mrs. Karen Dries, Spanish teacher at St. Michael the Archangel School in Cary, earned a BA degree from Assumption College, and has twenty years of teaching experience, the last thirteen of them in the Raleigh Diocesan Schools. Mrs. Dries has been teaching Spanish to the 300 Pre-K to Fourth Grade students for seven years. She founded the first after-school club at St. Michael School, and gives up several of her lunch periods to provide tutoring for students. She was instrumental in establishing the Safety Patrol as a leadership program for the Sixth Grade students at St. Michael, and she serves as the School Representative of the School Advisory Council. Mrs. Dries resides in Fuquay-Varina.

Mr. Joseph Hughes has been teaching Social Studies to St. Peter School’s 6th, 7th and 8th Graders for twenty-two years. Mr. Hughes holds a BA in History from St. Joseph Seminary College, and has done graduate work at ECU. His other activities at St. Peter’s in Greenville include coaching the varsity boys basketball team for fifteen years, using his woodworking skills in various projects for the school and helping out with maintenance. Additionally, he has served on the St. Peter Church Parish Council, is a Reader and an Extraordinary Minister, and takes part in the youth programs there. With his love of teaching History, Mr. Hughes students have done quite well in achieving high awards in national competitions. Mr. Hughes lives in Greenville.

Mrs. Amy Parent, First Grade teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes in Raleigh, has been teaching at Lourdes for fifteen years. She received her BA in Elementary Education from Marshall University, and a holds a Masters in Early Childhood Development. Mrs. Parent teaches with a special understanding for struggling students, and their parents, in her classes. She overcame her own learning disability while in school, and credits her tutors and educators with her success. Among her many activities, Amy Parent is head of technology and training for Lourdes’ elementary grades; played an integral part in implementing the core curriculum; and mentors other teachers. She loves to garden and uses her talents to tend the First Grade garden, and the School Gardens. Mrs. Parent calls Raleigh home.