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NILES — A Berrien County educator known for the positive impact he has in his school and community has been honored with an Excellence in Education award from the Michigan Lottery.

The award winner, Dustin Cornelius, is an English and Media Productions teacher at Niles Senior High School. The school is part of Niles Community Schools.

The Michigan Lottery established the Excellence in Education awards in 2014 to recognize outstanding public-school educators across the state during the school year.

Winners of the weekly award receive a $2,000 cash prize. At the end of the school year, one of the weekly award winners will be selected to receive the Lottery’s Educator of the Year award and will receive a $10,000 cash prize.

Each winner also is featured in a news segment on the Lottery’s media partner stations: WXYZ-TV in Detroit, FOX 17 in Grand Rapids, FOX 47 in Lansing, WNEM-TV in Saginaw, and WWTV-TV in Traverse City. The news segment featuring Cornelius will air this evening.

“Mr. Cornelius’ ability to build relationships with his students and engage them in new courses is a testament to his commitment to provide unique opportunities through education,” said Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli. “His dedication to his community is admirable and makes him very deserving of this award.”

Cornelius was attracted to a career in education because of his desire to have a career that’s rewarding and fulfilling.

“I wanted a career that was rewarding and fulfilling. Teaching has allowed me the opportunity to positively impact the lives of kids and to build relationships with families.”

Cornelius was nominated for the award by a former student.

“Dustin Cornelius is an outstanding educator in my community. Dustin has improved our community in several ways over the past few years he has been at Niles High School. For example, he started a fundraiser in our school called ‘Socktober’ where we collect socks for churches and shelters near us. One year we collected over 5,000 socks, which is incredible. In addition to Socktober, he has brought our community closer and has helped our school spirit stay alive by hosting a community pep rally at the beginning of the year, creating our student section ‘Niles Noise,’ and he DJs at multiple events for our school. He took time to help form a new Speech and Media Production course on top of the English classes he teaches.

“Overall, Dustin, or ‘Corn’ as we like to call him, has been an outstanding community member, educator, and mentor. He has been the most influential teacher I have ever had. However, it’s not just the activities that he puts on that makes him great, he also is very compassionate, funny, and many other things. He always makes the room full of laughter, joy, and happiness. Cracking jokes, telling stories, breaking out into song in the middle of a conversation, and being kind is what he’s known for. He cares for not only his students, but also his colleagues, and his entire community. He makes a difference every single day and that deserves recognition.”

Cornelius earned a bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University. He has been an educator for 15 years, the last four in his current position.

Excellence in Education award nominees are evaluated on the following criteria:

• Excellence – Their work consistently helps students and/or their schools or school districts advance to higher levels of academic achievement.
• Dedication – They consistently go above and beyond expectations to help students succeed.
• Inspiration – Their work inspires others around them to exceed expectations either academically or professionally.
• Leadership – They demonstrate clear leadership skills in their positions with their school or school districts.
• Effectiveness – The nominee’s work has clear and positive results on the educational advancement of students within the school or school district.