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Petoskey High math teacher Joe Sturm wins the Michigan Lottery’s $2,000 Excellence in Education award

The Mitten Daily · October 27, 2026, 11:39 a.m. ET · Petoskey

Two- and three-story brick storefronts with awnings along a downtown street corner, with an ornate green lamppost and pedestrians on the sidewalk on a sunny day.
Lake and Howard streets in the Petoskey Downtown Historic District, in a 2011 file photo. It does not show Petoskey High School. Photo: Royalbroil / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), cropped and color-adjusted; derivative under the same ShareAlike license.

PETOSKEY, Mich. — A Petoskey High School math teacher who says he will quit only “when it stops being fun” has won one of the state’s weekly teaching honors. Joe Sturm received the Michigan Lottery’s Excellence in Education award, which comes with a $2,000 cash prize, 9&10 News reported Tuesday.

Sturm is the program’s Week 6 winner for this school year, according to TV6/WLUC, which aired his segment Oct. 23.

Who he is. Sturm has taught for five years, all of them at Petoskey High, part of the Public Schools of Petoskey. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Northern Michigan University, where a job as a teaching assistant steered him toward the classroom, 9&10 News reported.

“I am one of those people who have always known they would be a teacher,” Sturm told the station. “I have always been interested in and have a talent for math.”

More than math. Outside class, Sturm advises the National Honor Society, co-advises student leadership, coaches middle school cross country and volunteers as a volleyball coach. He also travels with student leaders to regional and state conferences, according to 9&10 News.

He said every student learns differently, and finding what works for each one is “an exciting challenge that makes every day different and fun.” His approach: “While math can be dry at times, I approach each day with humor and a light heart, and I love that I get to laugh every day.”

How winners are picked. A colleague nominated Sturm. Nominees are judged on five things: excellence, dedication, inspiration, leadership and effectiveness, 9&10 News reported. Each weekly winner gets $2,000, a plaque and a TV news segment, and at the end of the school year one weekly winner is named the Lottery’s Educator of the Year, with a $10,000 prize, according to the Michigan Lottery.

Know someone who deserves it? The Lottery started the awards in 2014. Any public school employee can be nominated, including teachers, administrators, coaches and support staff, through the form on the Lottery’s Excellence in Education page. A strong nomination gives specific examples of how the person helps students in and out of class.

Sources:
9&10 News, “Petoskey math teacher Joe Sturm wins Michigan Lottery Excellence in Education award,” Oct. 27, 2026 (award, $2,000, career, NMU, quotes, activities, colleague nomination, criteria, Educator of the Year), https://www.9and10news.com/2026/10/27/petoskey-math-teacher-joe-sturm-wins-michigan-lottery-excellence-in-education-award/
TV6/WLUC, “Week 6 - Joe Sturm,” Oct. 23, 2026 (Week 6 winner), https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/video/2026/10/23/week-6-joe-sturm/
Michigan Lottery, Excellence in Education page (program since 2014, eligibility, $2,000, plaque, TV segment, $10,000 Educator of the Year, nomination form), https://www.michiganlottery.com/excellence-in-education
Photo: Royalbroil, “East Mitchell Street Historic District.jpg,” Aug. 24, 2011, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:East_Mitchell_Street_Historic_District.jpg

Petoskey

Tags: Petoskey · Petoskey High School · Public Schools of Petoskey · Teachers · Michigan Lottery · Education

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