‘Celebrating their humanity’: 2025 Dawbarn Education Awards recipients announced

The Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge announced 10 recipients of the 2025 Dawbarn Education Awards last week.

For the past 31 years, the Community Foundation has honored community members for their significant impact on youth in the three local public school systems: Staunton, Augusta County and Waynesboro.

The award comes with a $10,000 prize and a special ceremony in the fall.

“While all community foundations share many common traits, our founder (Buz Dawbarn) had the vision to create something truly extraordinary when he established the Dawbarn Education Awards,” said Dan Layman, CEO of the Community Foundation. “The employees of our public school districts do their absolute best with the resources available to them, and many go well beyond the expectations of their profession every day, because they love seeing their students succeed. Through the Dawbarn Education Awards, we have the great privilege of honoring these individuals for that commitment and demonstrating our appreciation for them with a significant financial award. This program is one of the highlights of our year.”

The 2025 Dawbarn Education Awards recipients are:
•Russell Beverly, bus driver and custodian, Hugh K. Cassell Elementary
•Pete Echols, band teacher, Kate Collins Middle School
•Paige Heizer, elementary school teacher, Riverheads Elementary
•Blair Hoffman, agriscience teacher at Gordon Stewart Middle School
•Stacey Mooneyham, business/technology teacher, Shelburne Middle School
•Adreana Sprouse, preschool teacher at Wayne Hills Preschool
•Jonathan Steck, social worker, Waynesboro High School
•Beth Thompson, secretary, Valley Academy Regional Alternative School
•Tyson Thompson, physical education teacher, Arthur R. Ware Elementary
•Jonathan Wilson, band teacher, Staunton City Schools

Miriam Burrows, the director of educational programs at the Community Foundation, made surprise visits to inform this year’s 10 recipients in person.

“Buz Dawbarn believed that education was the foundation of our democracy, and that the people lifting up our kids every day deserve to be lifted up themselves. When we hand out a Dawbarn Education Award to a teacher, bus driver, or school secretary for their kindness, integrity, and service, we’re not just recognizing their hard work. We’re celebrating their humanity. We’re holding these people and these values up in front of our children – our students – and saying, ‘This is what success looks like. These are the qualities that we reward in our community,’” Burrows said.

The superintendents from the three school divisions joined Burrows on the surprise announcements to the recipients in their respective jurisdictions.

“I think it’s a thank you from our community – the broader community outside of our school division – for our employees, for the good work they do,” said Dr. Jeffrey Cassell, superintendent of Waynesboro City Schools. “I think the exciting part is that it goes from support staff to teachers and administrators. It recognizes the people in the community that support our youth.”

Dr. Eric Bond, superintendent of Augusta County Schools, is thankful to work in a school division that honors heroes making a difference in the lives of public school students.

“It’s a celebration of public education as a whole. Our employees work so tirelessly to take care of our children, teach our children and love our children. This is a way our community reaches out and says, ‘We appreciate you. We think you guys are doing a great job, and we want to celebrate you.’ That’s rare. I’m not sure every community has that. We’re lucky in Staunton, Augusta County and Waynesboro to have the Dawbarn (Education) Awards,” Bond said.

Garett Smith, superintendent for Staunton City Schools, agreed.

“It just makes me so proud of all their accomplishments. Our big theme this year is putting high expectations into practice. It’s about excellence for everybody, so to celebrate excellence among our teaching staff – it’s so important to us. For students to have these models of excellence within the school system—people they can interact with and look up to – it just makes a huge difference. Having great teachers is really just a game-changer,” Smith said.

Related stories:

Community Foundation announces 10 Dawbarn Awards recipients for 2023

Dawbarn Education Awards: Community Foundation honors local educators