AU grad named a 2023 Jostens Renaissance Educator of the Year
Tricia (Molden) Phelps has never forgotten how much Ashland University has helped her teaching career.
“It gave me the foundation to start my career, and I’m still teaching, and I love everything about teaching,” said Phelps, who graduated from AU in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in education. “I am still a proud Eagle.”
That “foundation” has led to a 25-year career as a health and physical education teacher at Licking Valley High School in Newark, Ohio, and being named a 2023 Jostens Renaissance Educator of the Year.
The Educator of the Year award was developed by the Jostens company’s Renaissance education program to recognize individuals across the country who have excelled in implementing best practices of affirmation and recognition to impact their school cultures, according to the website for Jostens Renaissance.
“Tricia embodies the principles of Jostens Renaissance, not because it’s her job, but because it’s who she is,” said Renaissance Hall of Famer Dwight Carter on the website. “She genuinely loves her students and school community, and that love is exemplified daily. I look to her for inspiration and encouragement because she is a Renaissance champion.”
Someday Phelps could join Carter in the Hall of Fame, which its website says is the highest honor an educator can receive from Jostens Renaissance. Carter was inducted from Gahanna Lincoln High School in Ohio in 2010.
That’s not something she’s expecting, though. She didn’t even expect to be named an Educator of the Year.
“It was very much a surprise to be one of three teachers to get this award,” said Phelps, who had no idea she was going to receive the honor until an end-of-the-year awards banquet in May at Licking Valley High School.
The other two 2023 Educators of the Year are from Pennsylvania and Mississippi.
Six years into her teaching career, Phelps started the Jostens Renaissance program at Licking Valley, where she also attended high school.
“It’s an extra to my teaching,” Phelps said about the program, “but it’s where my passion is.”
Through the Jostens Renaissance program, Phelps oversees a student leadership class of about 30 students, whom she helps become role models to encourage other students to come to class and do well in school through fun activities, rewards and recognitions.
Giving doughnuts to students who arrive to school on time has been one of the Jostens Renaissance rewards/fun activities Phelps has overseen through the years, as well as recognizing students with 3.0 grade point averages or higher at assemblies led by her students.
The program also is now a part of Licking Valley’s middle school and elementary levels, and Phelps said superintendents have reached out to her about starting one in their school districts, and her students have given presentations about the program at other schools.
“It is changing the climate and culture in school systems,” Phelps said. “It’s increasing graduation rates and reducing faculty turnover.
“It’s something I love to do because I love working with students,” Phelps added.
Among the students who were in her 2022-23 Jostens Renaissance class were her two sons, one was a senior and the other a junior. The oldest son surprised his mother with her award at the banquet.
Her Jostens Renaissance students also earned a school of distinction award at the program’s annual conference in July in Dallas, where Phelps was recognized, too. Phelps took 11 students and some faculty members with her to the conference, which was the sixth one she has attended during the 19 years she has been with the program.
A lot of what she learned about leadership and teamwork came from her time at AU. In addition to preparing to become a teacher, Phelps also belonged to a sorority.
“I’m still in contact with a lot of people I went to school with at Ashland,” Phelps said. “Ashland is like family; your classmates are so supportive.
“A lot of my colleagues from Ashland have congratulated me for my award,” she added. “The legacy of Ashland is still in me.”