Campbellsville University recognized 169 teachers from 60 school districts at its annual 32 Excellence Teaching Ceremony, four of whom belong to Jessamine County Schools.

They are Matt Moore, Jessamine County superintendent; Lorenso Villalobos, Wilmore Elementary School; Mathew Cessna, East Jessamine Middle School; and Meghan Banks, Jessamine Career and Technology Center.

“The ability to mentor students, the ability to watch students walk across that graduation stage, and just the ability to play a role in students’ lives is so meaningful that each of you teachers do every day in so many aspects,” state Sen. Max Wise said during the program. “Their progression is influenced by you every day as an educator; to help them grow and to help them learn and to mature. Your working hours do not start or end by the ring of a bell. It does not start by a calendar date. I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for the time and the effort that you put into your job to help your students succeed.”

Villalobos is a math and social studies teacher at Wilmore Elementary School, where he has taught s since 2013. A graduate of West Jessamine High School in 2004, Villalobos earned a bachelor’s of arts degree in elementary education from Asbury University in 2013. He is married to Amanda Villalobos, and the couple have two children, Lylah and Ezra.

Cessna has taught seventh-grade social studies at East Jessamine Middle School since 2014. Another graduate of West Jessamine High School, Cessna also earned a degree from Asbury University with a bachelor’s of science in education. Cessna is currently working towards a master of arts in counseling from Eastern Kentucky University.

Banks has taught pre-engineering at Jessamine Career and Technology Center since 2017. Previously she taught math at West Jessamine High School from 2012 to 2017, as well as East Jessamine High School from 2006 to 2012. A graduate of West Jessamine High School, Banks earned her bachelor’s from Morehead State  University, and a master’s from EKU.

“It is an honor being recognized for this award by an organization of this quality,” Moore said. “Campbellsville University has supported Jessamine County in so many ways to include their assistance in educating several of our teachers and administrators.”