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 |
| 2026 – Trent Poole Mr. Trent Poole is the 2025-2026 recipient of The Ezekiel Award for effective Christian witness and excellence in teaching. Mr. Poole teaches 8th-grade Logic School Humanities and 9th-grade Rhetoric School Humanities. Mr. Poole also taught Speech and Debate in the past at Evangel Christian Academy (ECA). Trent received his B.A., Political Science and M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction with Emphasis in Technology at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He began teaching at Evangel in 2022 and has 36 years of teaching experience. Mr. Poole enjoys working with young people and interacting with them in their roles as students, athletes, and unique individuals. He wants to see his students reach their potential and fulfill their purpose in God. He believes that God calls us to “good works in Christ Jesus and that we should labor as unto the Lord and not as unto men because our labor in the Lord is never in vain.” Mr. Poole enjoys spending time with his family and dogs, hiking, mountain biking, and photography. One of his nominators noted, “He truly believes that everything that has happened in the world points to the need for redemption and how Christ fulfills that.” Others praised him for showing “a deep love and care for his students and he truly wants them to learn to the best of their abilities,” and “Trent spends every day at ECA investing in his students’ lives.” “He not only taught me facts, but how to debate, reason, and how to live my life in a way that honors Christ.” Full List of Recipients |