Columbia College-Lake of the Ozarks Faculty Member Laurie Sybert named Lake of the Ozarks Community Hero

Columbia College-Lake of the Ozarks Faculty Member Laurie Sybert named Lake of the Ozarks Community Hero

Columbia College-Lake of the Ozarks faculty members Laurie Sybert (2012) and Dempsey Hamner (2011) have won the Lake of the Ozarks Community Hero Award the past two years.  

Courtesy of the Lake Sun newspaper

April 3, 2012

Osage Beach, Mo. — Community Heroes is an annual event celebrating members of the Lake Community who give back through selfless acts of humanitarian service. The winners were announced at an event on April 3 held at Bootleggers Grill in Osage Beach. Winners were chosen out of five possible categories.



Among the award winners recognized as a hero was Columbia College-Lake of the Ozarks faculty member Laurie Sybert. She was nominated by Sam Fleury, Community and Alumni Relations Coordinator for CC-LOTO.


Sybert and her family have dedicated their lives to the educational past and future of the Lake of the Ozarks area, and she was definitely deserving of this prestigious award.
Those are the words of Sam Fleury, her co-worker at Columbia College in Osage Beach.
He continues:


Sybert has directly helped produce more than 65 teachers in the eight-year existence of the program. More than 50 of them are currently teaching in the lake area. She recently completed her 25-year career as an elementary teacher at the School of the Osage Upper Elementary.


She was named the 1999 Missouri State Teacher of the Year and 1998 School of the Osage Teacher of the Year. She is a member of the Mount Carmel Baptist Church where she has served as a Sunday school teacher, worship team member, soloist and pianist. Sybert has also been involved in Missouri State Teachers Association, National Science Teachers Association, National Teachers of the Year and State Teacher of the Year Association.


Sybert has been a member of the Osage Teacher Association, holding the positions of President, Vice President, and social chair. She has stayed active in the Lake community all while battling and managing multiple sclerosis.


Sybert is able to show her students the world as she has traveled to Japan, Ecuador and Cambodia on different mission and educational journeys. She embodies everything that is good about education and should be recognized for her efforts.


Sybert is the second CC-Lake of the Ozarks faculty member to receive the award. Math professor Dempsey Hamner was the 2011 honoree in the Education category.