Cory Freihaut is Vigo County schools teacher of the year
May 20—Cory Freihaut, a special education teacher at Terre Town Elementary, has been named Vigo County teacher of the year.
The award is a joint recognition by the Vigo County School Corp. and Vigo County Teachers Association.
Family — including his parents and three children — teachers and administrative staff were on hand as he was presented with the award Monday morning.
"We're honored to recognize you as our VCSC teacher of the year," said Chris Himsel, district superintendent.
School principal Julie Lautenschlager said she and assistant principal Sharon Manley nominated Freihaut for the honor.
"It's hard because every teacher does a great job here at Terre Town," Lautenschlager said. But she and Manley had a conversation and decided to nominate Freihaut.
"Cory works so hard with our students who have some difficulties at times in the classroom and he just uses different strategies," she said. "At the end of the day ... he takes care of them like they were his own, and he just wants them to succeed and be productive citizens when they leave our building and move on to middle and high school."
After the surprise announcement, Freihaut described being "a little overwhelmed" by the honor, but thankful.
His parents, who are from out-of-town, had to travel a distance to be present. "When they started coming in, I was really, really surprised," he said.
He started teaching in 2008.
When he began pursuing the field of education while in college, he started off in elementary education with a special education minor at the University of Southern Indiana. He really enjoyed the special education classes.
"I decided to transfer to Indiana State University because they offered a dual degree program, elementary ed and special education," he said. "This was back in the day when you didn't have a teacher shortage, so it was very hard to get a teaching job, but special ed would get your foot in the door."
He obtained a dual degree and got his foot in the door teaching special education at Center School "and I found that I loved special education," he said. "I never looked back at the regular classroom again."
Freihaut finds it especially rewarding working with children who "kind of fall through the cracks, and you're able to kind of be that safety net for them."
Helping students be successful and achieve their potential "is the most rewarding part," said Freihaut, who has taught at Terre Town since 2015.
When he started there, his oldest child was in first grade at the school and there was an opening. "To be in the school with my own children has always been something I wanted to do," he said. "And so I jumped on that opportunity."
His two oldest are at Otter Creek Middle School now, and his youngest is in third grade at Terre Town.
Freihaut comes from a family of educators. His mom, dad and stepmom were all veteran educators. "For them to be part of this was really special," he said.
In his classroom, he hopes the award inspires his students by seeing that hard work is rewarded.
Freihaut gave a special shout-out to the teaching aides in his classroom. "We call them aides, but they are the other teachers in the room to me," he said. "I preach that to my students. They are teachers. None of it is possible without them."
The room doesn't function without them, he said.
He also thanked school administration for their support.
"None of it happens without the support I get from administration," Freihaut said. "I have been blessed through my entire career to have wonderful administrative staff supporting me with every idea I have, no matter how crazy it might be ... They are always backing me up."
Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at sue.loughlin@tribstar.com. Follow Sue on X at @TribStarSue.
