{"id":128403,"date":"2026-04-23T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-freemasons-recognize-first-responders-students-and-educators-at-awards-ceremony\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T17:00:00","slug":"durango-freemasons-recognize-first-responders-students-and-educators-at-awards-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-freemasons-recognize-first-responders-students-and-educators-at-awards-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango Freemasons recognize first responders, students and educators at awards ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Members
Members of the Durango and San Juan Masonic Lodge 46 sit at the awards ceremony honoring local first responders, educators and students April 19 at the Durango Community Recreation Center. (Jessica Bowman\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Durango and San Juan Masonic Lodge 46 honored first responders, law enforcement officers, students and educators April 19 at an awards ceremony.<\/p>\n

The Freemasons are one of the oldest and largest fraternal organizations in the world, a centuries-old brotherhood that brings members together through local lodges focused on charity, community service and personal growth.<\/p>\n

First responder awards<\/div>\n

Law enforcement honorees included London Bartholomew of the Durango Police Department and Sgt. Cody Rieb and Deputy Scott Blakely of the La Plata County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Rieb and Blakely were recognized for rescuing two kayakers stranded on Vallecito Reservoir during a windstorm in March. One of the kayakers, Durango Police officer Jim Martindale, was in critical condition and required transport to Mercy Hospital. Blakely was injured during the rescue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is reasonable to conclude that without the heroic efforts of Sgt. Cody Rieb and Deputy Scott Blakely, there is a high probability Officer Martindale would not have survived,\u201d presenter Mark Phillip said, reading from a letter from the Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Fire service awards were presented to Battalion Chief Scott Davis of Los Pinos Fire Protection District and Cadet Berman Abdallah Boehm, a drone pilot for the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District.<\/p>\n

Upper Pine River Fire Chief Bruce Evans presented Boehm\u2019s award, praising his work ethic and attitude.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always got a positive attitude when it comes to work. He\u2019s an integral part of our emergency operations,\u201d Evans said, adding that Boehm represents the future of the profession.<\/p>\n

Academic awards<\/div>\n

Students and educators from local high schools and middle schools were also recognized.<\/p>\n

At Animas High School, Lacy Ruggerio received the Outstanding Junior Girl award.<\/p>\n

\u201cLacy is an incredible documentary filmmaker and journalist in the making,\u201d said Libby Cowles, dean of enrollment and community outreach.<\/p>\n

Student Council President Bennet Esterday was named Outstanding Junior Boy for his commitment to civic engagement.<\/p>\n

Mike Bienkowski, a science teacher at AHS, was named Teacher of the Year. He was recognized for getting students outside the classroom and partnering with community organizations on real-world learning, including backpacking trips and wetlands restoration in Silverton.<\/p>\n

At Bayfield High School, Samantha Elk and Cameron Mars received Outstanding Junior Girl and Boy awards, respectively. Teacher of the Year Steven Long was praised for challenging students to think critically while supporting colleagues.<\/p>\n

At Ignacio High School, Lily Quintana and Gage Smithson were recognized as Outstanding Junior Girl and Boy. Presenters described Smithson as a student of strong character and integrity who does not always recognize his own strengths.<\/p>\n

Quintana was praised for her consistency, resilience and commitment to academics, athletics and her community, even while facing personal challenges.<\/p>\n

Ignacio\u2019s Teacher of the Year, Laqueta Farrow, was recognized for her dedication to students while undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She was described as \u201cabsolute sunshine,\u201d known for her kindness, patience and compassion.<\/p>\n

At the middle school level, Escalante Middle School social studies teacher and coach John Hise received Teacher of the Year honors.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn is often cited by his peers as the reason they entered the profession,\u201d said Emily Moreland. \u201cThere is no higher compliment than having former students return as colleagues because they want to be just like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller Middle School teacher Tiffany Mapel was also named Teacher of the Year. Maple, a longtime educator and author, is retiring at the end of the school year.<\/p>\n

Mountain Middle School\u2019s Teacher of the Year award went to Tony Rodenck.<\/p>\n

Masonic Scholarship<\/div>\n

The Masonic Emery E. Smiley Scholarship was awarded to Durango High School senior Aysia Mathews.<\/p>\n

Mathews maintains a 4.0 GPA and has excelled in a rigorous course load, particularly in health science, said teacher Lauren Moren. A multisport athlete, she returned from a knee injury without missing a beat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat really sets her apart is her character,\u201d Moren said. \u201cShe has an extremely strong faith and inspires everyone around her to be a better person.\u201d<\/p>\n

jbowman@durangoherald.com<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

senior Aysia Mathews named recipient of Emery E. Smiley Scholarship<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":128404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[640,1820,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-128403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-award-and-prize","tag-dh-trueanthem","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128403"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=128403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}