Mr. Josh Dick has all the qualities, skills, enthusiasm and spirit required to provide his students with an excellent academic education, but what makes him so unique/deserving of this award is his true dedication in his ability to reach out and influence the students. Last December my son, Brandon, was diagnosed with a life-threatening form of cancer missing the majority of school. Mr. Dick embraced this challenging situation. He taught my son lessons in patience, effort & reasonable expectations teaching him not to get upset when things didn’t turn out perfectly. Thru uplifting & comical emails, cards, notes and working with home tutoring, he went to great lengths to provide the emotional/spiritual/educational support necessary to get my son to pass with his class. Through his actions, he continually encouraged the kids to keep in contact with Brandon benefiting both Brandon and the students. With his help, the kids learned valuable life lessons from the harsh reality that bad things happen to good kids, but not as a result of anything they did or did not do. With open communication, he reduced their fear and confusion making them realize that cancer cannot shatter hope, destroy friendship or silence courage, only people do that. He was the necessary link in keeping the students from abandoning Brandon realizing that friends were critical to his spirit of survival. He taught them that Brandon was still the same person even though his looks had changed, his body weakened and he was unable attend school. He stressed the importance of Brandon feeling supported. To show this support, Mr. Dick made a quilt using Brandon’s favorite sports team colors. Each square decorated by students & fami­lies with drawings, pictures or words of hope sewed together with love, blanketing him with con­stant support even when he was not able to be with his friends. Mr. Dick gave our son the great­est gift, hope. Believing in students, many times before they believe in themselves, Mr. Dick has positively influenced their young lives through his words/actions and through this difficult situation has been a stepping stone to their future success bringing out their, individual, best.