Friday, September 29, 2006
And in the end zone: his most influential teacher
Jon Copper honored his second-grade teacher with an award at his college football game.
Kathy Dalton has been a teacher for 29 years -- 23 of them at Botetourt County's Breckinridge Elementary School.
"We are rewarded in many ways," Dalton said of teachers, adding it's not unusual for former students to drop in for visits and to say "thank you."
But Dalton recently picked up a special honor from the Virginia Lottery and the University of Virginia because of a former student.
"It was just an extra treat," said Dalton, one of three recipients of the Virginia Lottery Player Inspiration Award.
On Sept. 16, before the kickoff of the UVa-Western Michigan game, Dalton stood in the middle of the Scott Stadium field with linebacker Jon Copper to view a short film about her and Copper. The piece was broadcast on the stadium's giant screen.
After the film, Copper presented Dalton with a UVa football jersey inscribed with his number 54 and her name.
"It was very emotional and rewarding for me," Dalton said of receiving the award.
Copper told the football team's academic coordinators about Dalton when he was asked about a teacher who had influenced him. Copper, a sophomore religious studies major, recalled telling them that Dalton inspired him to go the extra mile in the classroom.
Dalton was Copper's first public school teacher. He had been home schooled in kindergarten and first grade.
Second grade "was my first time away from home, and it was an adjustment," he said.
"I immediately fell in love with Ms. Dalton," Copper said in a news release from the lottery. "She was like my mom during the day when I was at school."
Copper, who became a wrestling and football star at Northside High School, remained in contact with Dalton throughout his academic career, even after his family moved to Roanoke County from Botetourt County.
Copper graduated in 2003 but still visits Breckinridge to speak to Dalton's students and talk about perseverance.
"Anybody who knows Jon marvels at his character. He's a goal setter; he sets high goals and figures out how to meet them," said Dalton, a Fincastle resident.
Even in the second grade, Dalton said, Copper "was very mature, saw situations clear and had a tremendous faith."
Copper was also the 2003 All-Timesland male athlete of the year. He puts others, especially his teammates, ahead of himself, and is gracious to his opponents whether he wins or loses, Dalton said.
She saw him play college football for the first time the day she received the award. UVa lost to Western Michigan 17-10.
Dalton was the award's second recipient. A teacher from Fairfax County received a jersey at the Sept. 9 UVa game. The final award will be presented during the Oct. 14 UVa game to a Virginia Beach teacher. The recognition program, a partnership between the state lottery and UVa, is a way to spotlight public school teachers and athletes, and a way to remind Virginians that lottery profits go to fund public education, said John Hagerty, lottery spokesman.
Since 1999, profits from the state's lottery have gone to fund public education. In fiscal year 2006, the lottery turned over more than $454 million for Virginia's public schools, representing about 10 percent of state funding for public education.
That $454 million, according to the lottery's Web site, is 33.3 percent of the $1.3 billion lottery sales. About 56 percent of sales is given away in prizes.
Copper, who attended Fork Union Academy for a year before becoming a walk-on linebacker at UVa, led the Atlantic Coast Conference in unassisted tackles and was third in total tackles after the first two games of the season.
