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Brenda Kniebes, a lifelong resident of the area who grew up in Coloma,��has taught elementary school at Decatur Public Schools for more than thirty years,��first music classes and now second grade. She doesn’t leave her calling at the��school door, though. She continues teaching and mentoring children in after-school��programs, encouraging their interest in music and the arts, and providing an��opportunity to learn about horses and ponies on her farm.

Brenda helps organize the Decatur Van Buren/Cass County Girls on the Run��program. Each year, more than 500 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade girls participate in the��after-school program that encourages healthy values and goals. In the spring, the��program culminates with a 5K fun run.

Brenda and her husband have seven horses – four drafts and three ponies – and, as��sponsors of the Four Flags 4-H club, Brenda mentors 4-H members in handling the��responsibility of a horse. She also sponsors ponies for the Berrien County We Can��Ride 4-H program. The Kniebes’ take their horses to St. Joseph in the summers to��drive visitors downtown in the trolley.��

In 2002, Brenda started Soup Suppers in Coloma as a way to raise money for the��North Berrien Food Pantry. Up to one hundred people attend each of nine suppers��throughout the year at the Coloma Senior Center. The suppers have raised a total of��$50,000 and have become an integral part of the pantry’s funding.

The Alumni Service Award was presented to Brenda Kniebes in 2014.