Three Mehlville School District employees recently were honored for being at the top of their respective classes.

Jeanne Cope, Jen Ulsas and Karen Torretta were the big winners last week at the school district’s 24th annual Recognition Night that took place at the Royale Orleans banquet center in Lemay.

Cope, a secretary at the Oakville Senior High School, was named the 2004 Classified Employee of the Year.

Ulsas, a fourth-grade teacher at Trautwein Accelerated School, was named the 2004 Elementary Teacher of the Year.

Torretta, an eighth-grade mathematics teacher at Buerkle Middle School, was honored as the 2004 Secondary Teacher of the Year.

Cope has been with the Mehlville School District for 20 years, spending the last four in her current position. She also is an active volunteer, working with the Meal-a-Month program at her church.

Ulsas has been with the district since 1998. She is a member of the Trautwein K-5 Balanced Literacy Team and an implementer for Staff Development Days. Ulsas now will represent the Mehlville School District in the Missouri Teacher of the Year competition.

Torretta spent seven years as a mathematics teacher in the Hancock Place School District before coming to Mehlville in 1998. She also has taught summer school mathematics in the Ladue School District each of the past two years.

The Mehlville School District also presented Distinguished Service Awards to four community members and one couple.

Fran Stephens, Kathy Crow, Officer Lindy Robertson and Georgia Burnette joined George and Diane Mues in receiving a much-deserved round of applause besides their awards.

Eight community members were honored at the banquet for reaching the 10-year plateau in volunteer service. In addition, 57 retiring district employees were recognized along with 65 staff members who reached a years-of-service milestone of 20, 25, 30 or 35 years.

An overflow crowd of more than 500 staff members, friends and family members attended the event, according to a Mehlville School District news release.