Before the seniors throw their caps and the kids are home for summer, I wanted to congratulate the Chamber’s 2022 Teacher of the Year, Angela Davidson, and Student of the Year, William “Will” Chase. The chamber presented these awards in January at the annual awards banquet, and, in the months since, it has been wonderful to see both Angela and Will out in the community being ambassadors for the school and town.

Angela was nominated for Teacher of the Year by the school district office and leaders within the district. Norwalk High School Principal Chris Basinger presented the award and spoke about Angela’s successes as the high school’s art teacher. She was awarded for her dynamic teaching style, often taking it beyond the classroom. Her work can be seen around the community from the halls of the school to the walls of public buildings, and she enlists students to help her with these projects. Most recently, Angela donated her time and talent to the Norwalk Easter Public Library Foundation’s Chair-ish fundraiser, having created a Norwalk Warriors-themed stool to be auctioned off for the organization. It’s an honor to have Angela as the recipient of the chamber’s award, and we appreciate that she shares her passion for the arts with our Norwalk youth.

Student of the Year Will Chase is an impressive young leader and a well-deserving winner of the award. Over his high school career, Will has participated in large group speech, student council, National Honor Society, varsity show choir, varsity track, varsity swimming, and marching band (to name a few of his activities). As a student leader, it’s no surprise that Will is also a peer mentor to ninth graders. Academically, Will is ranked third in his class with a 4.0 GPA and will graduate this spring with his associate of arts and associate of science degrees from DMACC. Will’s acceptance speech at the banquet was a highlight of the evening, and we couldn’t have been more impressed with how humble and poised he was. We wish him the best as he heads off to college to pursue a degree in environmental engineering.

I’m grateful for our partnership with the school and love that we get to honor these individuals within the chamber. I look forward to continuing this tradition and celebrating again in 2023. Please join the chamber in congratulating Angela and Will on their accomplishments and wishing them future success.