The
Ezekiel Award
for
Excellence
in
Christian Witness
and
Teaching
Ezekiel Peter Wetlesen, a 2006 graduate of ECA, had the life goals of pursuing a teaching degree in mathematics and then returning to ECA to teach. Due to a brain tumor, Ezekiel was not able to pursue those goals. Therefore, he decided to establish an endowment to encourage and retain excellent teachers of effective Christian witness to teach in Christian schools. Ezekiel’s desire is that proceeds from the endowment provide stipends to award winners to augment their salary for the next year of teaching in a Christian school. This would encourage those teachers and enable them to continue teaching in Christian schools due to reduced financial concerns.
| Objective |
| Encourage and retain excellent teachers of effective Christian witness to continue teaching and witnessing in Christian primary and secondary schools. |
| Criteria |
| * Full-time teacher at ECA or ECA graduate teaching full-time at a primary or secondary Christian school, * Demonstrated effective Christian witness of righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness (1 Tim 6:11) and encourage those qualities in others (students, staff & teachers), * Excellence in teaching as confirmed by peer and student reviews and assisting students to successfully apply their understanding of the subject matter, * Financial need (consideration, but not required) as indicated by student loans or need to work 2nd or 3rd job to support family or himself or herself, * By accepting the stipend, the teacher agrees to teach in a Christian school for the next year. |
| Applications |
| Students, teachers, parents, school administrators and ECA graduates can nominate candidates before the beginning of spring of the academic year. |
| Opinion |
| MORE THAN A BASKET Colorado Springs Gazette, CO – Feb 14, 2006 Deaths of local teens are a reminder to live well Colorado Springs Gazette, CO – Aug 22, 2007 |
| Recipients |
| 2025 – Michelle Butler The recipient of The Ezekiel Award for effective Christian witness and excellence in teaching for the 2024-2025 school year is Mrs. Michelle Butler, who teaches 11th Grade Humanities, AP Language and Composition, as well Senior Thesis at Evangel Christian Academy (ECA) secondary campus. Mrs. Butler received her M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Regent University, an Advanced Literature and English Certificate from CSU Boulder and her B.A. in Organizational Communications from Murray State University. She began teaching at ECA in 2020. Mrs. Butler is passionate about teaching literature that allows students to experience models of virtue and God’s truth. In the nomination package for The Ezekiel Award, a nominator noted that “She elicits excellence from students in their formal writing, senior thesis formation, and creative writing. She encourages students to thoughtfully read hard texts, seek God’s Truth throughout, and respond rhetorically and winsomely.” Elsewhere in the nomination package, she was praised as “truly an amazing teacher who goes above and beyond each and every day, both in the classroom and out!” and “Michelle is a constant witness to the Gospel through her love for the students, her desire to share Truth from the Bible with them in their study of the humanities, and her mentoring/discipleship of students every day.” Full List of Recipients |