English teacher Mary Dix hugs learning specialist Mary Grupe shortly after Grupe won the”Outstanding Educator in a Specialized Area” award. On the right, Dr. Dana Clippard was one of  the many district people who came to celebrate the win with Grupe. Photo by Avantika Khatri

Today Mary Grupe, a special education teacher here, learned the Columbia Fund for Academic Excellence has named her “Outstanding Educator in a Specialized Area.”
On Thursday, April 12, the CFAE will recognize RBHS’ Grupe, along with other CPS faculty at the Peachtree Conference Center.
Each will receive a $1,200 dollar cash award and an engraved silver tray.
“I just think there’s a lot of people who are deserving,” Grupe said. “I’m very grateful, and I love teaching at Rockbridge.”
Grupe said when assistant principal Diane Bruckerhoff came to talk to her, it didn’t cross her mind that it was because she had won the award. When Bruckerhoff finally gave her the good news, Grupe felt “overwhelmed and incredibly thankful and flattered.”
“I know that a lot of students also wrote her letters of recommendation” for the award, Bruckerhoff said. “There have been students who have said she’s the reason they decided to graduate, and if it hadn’t been for her, they wouldn’t have graduated high school. So she’s really impacted a lot of lives, and I think she exemplifies why Rockbridge is a special place to be.”
Special Education teacher Kay Williams, who has been working with Grupe for over six years, said she can’t think of a more deserving person for the award.
“She’s probably one of the most giving people that I know,” Williams said, “and she loves her job and will drop anything that she’s doing at any given time for both all the students and also for the people that she works with.”
Along with Grupe, the following CPS faculty and administrators were named: Tara Gutshall of Paxton Keeley Elementary School; Greg Colman of Ridgeway Elementary School; Pam Didur of Oakland Junior High School; Janna Fick and Dolores Obregon, both of Hickman High School; and Amy Watkins of Parkade Elementary School.
By Urmila Kutikkad