Insurance Education Institute (IEI)

Patty Wilkinson Named 2002 National Insurance Educator of the Year

Patty Wilkinson, second from left, receives the James L. Osborne Insurance Educator of the Year Award sponsored by IEI. Also pictured are high school principal, Craig Carter, left, along with Jim Jones, Director, Katie School of Insurance and Financial Services, Illinois State University, and Sharon Heaton, IEI Director and President, Heaton Agency, Inc., Pontiac, Illinois.

The Insurance Education Institute (IEI) awarded the James L. Osborne Insurance Educator of the Year award for 2002 to Patricia E. (Patty) Wilkinson of Stark County High School in Toulon, Illinois. In honor of IEI's founder, James L. Osborne, this award is presented each year to a high school teacher who demonstrates excellence in providing insurance education to our nation's students.

As winner of the fifth annual competition, Ms. Wilkinson received national recognition and a monetary award for herself and for her school. Also as recipient of this award, she will serve on IEI's National Advisory Council of Secondary Teachers (NACST) and as one of the judges for the 2003 Insurance Educator of the Year competition.

To be eligible, nominees must be professional educators who have completed an Insurance Education Institute for High School Teachers sponsored by IEI. They also must have taught insurance during the current school year in a course leading to a high school diploma.

Ms. Wilkinson is a graduate of Eastern Illinois University and has completed 29 additional undergraduate and graduate hours from Black Hawk East College, Western Illinois University, the University of Central Oklahoma, Aurora University, and Illinois State University. She attended IEI’s Insurance Education Institute at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, in 2001, and was the John C. Etling award recipient at that institute. This award is given annually to one outstanding student at each of IEI’s five institute programs. Ms. Wilkinson teaches Business Education classes including Business Applications, Keyboarding, and Consumer Education and spends six weeks teaching the risk management and insurance unit. She is also a Freshman Class Sponsor, Second Vice President of Delta Kappa Gamma, serves on the National Education Association, is secretary of her church’s Mission Board, and is a judge for the local 4-H fair each summer.

In the words of Ms. Wilkinson, “For me, receiving this award has been the chance of a lifetime. Working with the Advisory Council has given me the opportunity to meet other teachers across the country who share the same interests—providing the best educational opportunities to teachers and students concerning risk management and insurance. IEI has been wonderful to me, and the opportunity to be named educator of the year has been both a professional and personal reward for me!”