2009 Awardees

As recipients of The Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence, the following five educators received personal monetary gifts, digital arts training for teachers and students in their schools, and expenses-paid travel to the NEA Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Education Gala for themselves and a guest.

The NEA Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence recipient receives $25,000 and the four finalists for the national award each receive $10,000 in cash.

The following videos paying tribute to their work were produced by their students with the support and training from the Pearson Foundation.

Joseph Fatheree

Effingham High School
Effingham, Illinois
Illinois Education Association—NEA (IEA)

How do gifted teachers introduce students in rural communities to the world? If you are Joe Fatheree, you use twenty-first century skills and digital arts. This technology specialist and his students have worked with inner city students in Los Angles on a film shown at the United Nations, developed an animated storybook to teach English to African children, and created an interactive website for the Illinois State Board of Education. The 2006 Illinois Teacher of the Year is working on certification from National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. He earned a Master's degree in educational administration from Eastern Illinois University in 2005 and a Bachelor's degree in history in 1985.

Joseph Fatheree received the $25,000 NEA Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence.

Joseph Fatheree Video Duration: 3:20

Michael Flynn

William Norris Elementary School
Southampton, Massachusetts
Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA)

Imagine second graders producing a bimonthly television show that airs throughout their school and "The Flynnstones," a series of videos on science topics. How about harvesting Atlantic salmon eggs and releasing them into the wild? Or designing rockets powered by air pressure? Michael Flynn's students are engaged by these hands-on learning projects on a regular basis.

This 2008 state Teacher of the Year was awarded a Bachelor of Science in education degree from Westfield State College in Westfield, Massachusetts in 1997 and a Master's in curriculum and instruction from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2000.

Michael Flynn Video Duration: 3:17

Richard Ognibene

Fairport High School
Fairport, New York
New York State United Teachers (NYSUT)

To teach his students about scientific principles, Rich Ognibene spells his name in fire on a blackboard, submerges himself in a barrel of water, and rollerblades around the classroom while wearing a helmet, of course. Because of his innovative teaching, students are eager to study chemistry and physics.

Ognibene was the American Chemical Society Teacher of the Year in 2002 and New York's Teacher of the Year in 2008 representing more than 200,000 K–12 teachers. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Siena College in 1985 and was awarded a Master's of Science in organic chemistry from the University of Rochester in 1987.

Richard Ognibene Video Duration: 2:51

Stephanie Rossi

Wheat Ridge High School
Wheat Ridge, Colorado
Colorado Education Association (CEA)

Throughout her life, the Hebrew phrase tikkun olam, which means "world repair," has motivated Stephanie Rossi to action. She teaches various history courses, psychology, world religions, and indigenous studies at a high school on the outskirts of Denver. Rossi's frustration with history curricula that teach the inevitability of war led her to bring Peace Jam to her school in 1996. This curriculum teaches students via the experiences of Nobel Laureates including the Dali Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Rossi earned a Bachelor's in Social Science from the University of Northern Colorado in 1980 and a Master's in Social Science from the University of Colorado at Denver in 1997.

Stephanie Rossi Video Duration: 3:23

Marlene Srock

Bel Air Elementary School
Minot, North Dakota
North Dakota Education Association (NDEA)

In a unit on polar bears, Marlene Srock's first grade students learn about the mammal's habitat, eating habits, and size. She incorporates cooperative learning to engage her students and allows every child to work at their own academic level and according to their individual learning style.

Srock was state Teacher of the Year in 2007 and recieved a literacy award from the International Reading Association. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education from St. Cloud University in 1973 and a Master of Science in the same discipline from Minot State University in 2002.