Tommy Sawyer and Cody Weadge have a lot in common.
Both teach social studies at Winona Middle School and love the Green Bay Packers. Both believe relationships are just as important as the lessons they teach. And both want their students to leave the classroom feeling a little better about themselves and the world around them.
They just have slightly different ways of making that happen.
Sawyer brings a seemingly endless supply of enthusiasm, so much so that students sometimes ask why he is happy all the time. Weadge brings an endless supply of dad jokes and a classroom philosophy that his colleague sums up in two words: "Confusion Rocks."
Together, they represent the kind of positive, welcoming learning environment that makes Winona Middle School a special place. And now, they share another distinction: They are the 2026 Winona Education Association Teachers of the Year.
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Weadge and Sawyer learned of their awards during a surprise ceremony Friday afternoon at the middle school in the middle of a combined classroom activity that is a hallmark of their teaching styles.
“I am most passionate about building relationships with students and fostering a love of learning,” Weadge said in his nomination form. “If students remember how they felt in my class later in life, then I feel like I have made a positive impact on their lives.”
Sawyer said: “My wish is to make the middle school a place that every kid is excited to go to. I try to do this by creating a positive learning environment in my classroom, in our house area, and throughout the school.”
Sawyer has been a teacher for 14 years — 10 in Winona Area Public Schools. He has been instrumental in establishing AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) at the middle school and is a driving force behind the all-school assemblies, the AVID Holiday Store and other all-school events. He also coaches football and track and field, giving him another way to engage with the students he cares so deeply about.
“Tommy goes above and beyond to make the middle school a better place,” said Amber Mlynczak, who nominated Sawyer for the award. “He builds strong relationships with students in the classroom and when he is coaching. He finds creative ways to engage students in learning, he is passionate about his content and shows it in his delivery, and he finds ways to connect with all students in his classroom.”
Sawyer, coincidentally, nominated Weadge for the award as well, writing that “his classroom is a safe environment to ask questions, be wrong, be right, but most of all, learn important things in a variety of ways.”
Weadge has been teaching for 12 years and serves on multiple school, district and WEA committees. He works with the Chamber of Commerce to bring speakers into his social studies classrooms, giving students ideas for what their future may hold.
“Cody engages students with innovative teaching strategies and challenges them to be critical thinkers,” said Lizz Hall, a previous WEA Teacher of the Year. “He builds positive relationships with them through humor and connecting about music. He demonstrates compassion and cultural competence in his work with both students and staff.”
Weadge would say he is just following the example of others, and that students in Winona Area Public Schools are lucky.
“Winona educators are some of the greatest humans I have had the privilege of knowing and working with,” Weadge said. “The passion for their students and the content that they teach is on display each and every day in the classrooms of WAPS. There is never a day at WMS when I do not have a colleague who makes me smile, laugh, and feel appreciated for what I do.”
Sawyer agrees.
