By: Charity Meier | Novi Note | Published April 7, 2026
NOVI — Novi Middle School teacher Rebekah Schulze was rewarded for her years of hard work and dedication to her students with her first new car to drive after being named the district’s Educator of the Year on March 5.
“I’m so overwhelmed,” Schulze said upon being presented with the designation in front of her students and members of the media. “Oh, my God.”
Sue Collins Schroeder, director of the Novi Educational Foundation, accompanied by Novi Community School District Superintendent Ben Mainka, several school board members and other district officials and staff, and Schulze’s husband surprised her with the title as she was teaching an afternoon class.
“We are here today because you are such an amazing teacher,” Collins Schroeder said. “First and foremost, you make your classroom a safe place for all of your students. And not only that, but you teach for your students. You make sure that they all learn everything that they need as an individual, not as a class, and that they can take that out into the real world.”
Following the announcement, Schulze and her class were taken outside, where her new 2026 Chevy Equinox was parked just outside the front doors and sheltered from the pouring rain by a tent courtesy of the Novi Athletic Department.
“To think I thought getting Tropical Smoothie was the best thing that was going to happen to me today,” she said to her colleagues as she walked out the door to receive the vehicle.
The vehicle was presented to her by Marla Feldman, vice president of Feldman Automotive. Feldman has presented the NCSD Educator of the Year with a lease on a new vehicle for the last four years.
“We obviously love to give back to the community, and when you’ve got a teacher that has been such a great mentor, I think it’s important to recognize them, and that’s why we do it,” Feldman said.
Schulze, who teaches German and U.S. History, said this is the first time she has ever had a new car. She said prior to coming to Novi seven years ago, she taught in Germany for eight years. There, she said, she utilized public transportation and bicycles. Upon returning to the U.S., she purchased a used car from her grandparents.
“I don’t even know how I feel about a new car. It’s so crazy. It’s really, really exciting, though, and it’s such an incredibly generous thing to offer,” Schultz said. “I’m not teaching for glory or cars. I’m really here because I love teaching. I love working with students. I love seeing them make connections and learn. … Students are definitely the reason that I’m here. … So, a car just seems unbelievable as something for me to be given for doing something that I love to do. So, I feel very lucky.”
“Cars are expensive, and to get a gift like that just says a lot about them as a person — that they’ve gotten a gift like that because they’ve earned it,” Feldman said. “I just think it’s great to help someone out with transportation and to give back to the community.”
Schulze said that it was a big surprise. She said she has been influenced by so many people that she has worked with over the years.
“It’s me standing here, but there are so, so many people that are responsible for the teacher that I am,” she said.
Schulze said that she feels “incredible” teachers have the ability to understand what students need and the ability to constantly adapt to meet those needs. She said it’s also knowing when to push them to go farther and when to go over things a second or third time.
“That’s a big part of it is just adapting and being flexible and empathy and understanding what it is that students might need and how to help them and reach them,” she said.
Schulze said that she tries to bring “good feng shui” and “positive energy” into her classroom, which she believes makes a big difference. She said she is always trying to be innovative and try new things.
“I think those are kind of the things that help me make relationships with students, is that I offer joy and flexibility?” she said.
“Everything with her comes back to what is best for her students and how can we be better educators,” said Miranda Bodnovitz, Novi Middle School Japanese and theater teacher, who nominated Schulze.
Bodnovitz said that one of the things Schulze did is request that some professional development courses be more meaningful for teachers of elective courses.
“I think what makes Rebekah outstanding is that she is always striving to be better,” said nominator Laura Khalil, who is an instructional coach at NMS. “There is nothing that she is not willing to tackle, and she is just grounded in really strong principles of what teaching should be and how to interact with kids, and follows them in everything that she does.”
Kahlil recalled that Schulze went so far as to build a small wall around a student with sensory issues so that the student could participate in the class and yet feel safe and protected, rather than have to leave the classroom.
Her husband, Thomas, said that he is not surprised that she was given this honor.
“I think it was just a matter of time,” he said. “She lives for being a teacher. She lives for her kids. She deserves it.”
In order to be considered for the district title, Schulze was first named as the fifth to eighth grade Educator of the Year. Other nominees for the district title included:
Carolyn Kidder — NMS math interventionist, the Ancillary Educator of the Year.
Lily Stojanov — Novi High School science teacher, the ninth to 12th grade/NATC/Adult Education/Career Prep Educator of the Year.
Barb Zimmerman — a Wildcat Launch kindergarten teacher at Village Oaks, the preschool-fourth grade Educator of the Year.
Award recipients are nominated by both their colleagues and students.