Awards Gala

Dr. Acuff will work with educators at a middle school in Columbus, Ohio in a participatory action research project. The cohorts will assess and revise their school curriculum based on reflections from the 2011-2012 academic year. Data obtained from the research will ... more »

To improve the quality of education for ESL and Hispanic heritage students, Ms. Rasely-Philipps and her colleagues will develop an academic group at school that will foster personal and cultural connections as well as academic and career choices. The group will study ... more »

Through Techie Teachers, Mrs. Tardif will undergo Smart Notebook Certification Training. The training will provide Mrs. Tardif with the skills necessary to fully utilize her school’s technology equipment as educational tools. Upon completing the training, Mrs. ... more »

To improve technological proficiency among educators within the Southeast Local School District, Mr. Farmakidis will share with colleagues a series of teaching models which focus on integrating technological applications into teacher pedagogies. Throughout the course of ... more »

Mr. Fowler will attend the New and Aspiring School Leaders program at Harvard University. Through the program, Mr. Fowler will gain new tools, frameworks, leadership techniques, instructional practice techniques, and ideas to more effectively build and sustain learning ... more »

Ms. Lyons will attend the Reading and Writing Project at the Columbia University Teachers College. Through the program, Ms. Lyons will deepen her understanding of the implementation of effective reading workshops and the integration of the Common Core Curriculum. The ... more »

Mr. Applegate will read, "The Complete Learning Disabilities Handbook: Ready-to-Use Strategies and Activities for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities," and attend the Learning Disabilities Association of America's annual conference in Chicago. Using the ... more »

Mr. Cahn will take part in a year-long learning experience through the Mindful Education Institute. Through the study, Mr. Cahn will create student centered social and emotional learning curriculum and staff development strategies grounded in research-based ... more »

Ms. Swanson will embark on a six-week stay in Guatemala through Casa Xelaju’s Spanish Immersion Program. Through the program, Ms. Swanson will further her knowledge of Latin American culture and languages via experiences in schools, site visits, and a home stay ... more »

To provide quality writing instruction for students at Greenville Middle School, Ms. Hedrick will attend a one-week internship at the Center for Teaching and Learning during which she will observe, discuss, and reflect on the teaching practices used by educators ... more »

Ms. Cushard will attend the What’s Different about Teaching Reading to English Language Learners institute at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC. Upon completion of the training Ms. Cushard will lead a study group that will equip colleagues with ... more »

Using curriculum from the Exploratorium Institute for Inquiry, Mrs. Hansen-Barber and Mrs. Joslyn will facilitate ten professional study workshops for educators in the Wallace and Kellogg School Districts. The first five workshops will introduce teachers to the benefits ... more »

Ms. Kareem will travel to a diverse, high performing school in Toronto, Ontario. While there, Ms. Kareem will investigate professional learning communities and parental involvement initiatives aimed at increasing student achievement. The strategies and knowledge gained ... more »

Dr. Geier and Mrs. Davis will implement professional development for K-12 administrators at the county school district level. The learning will aim to improve STEM concept knowledge for administrators as they evaluate educators teaching these concepts. The ... more »

Dr. Alexandru will conduct multiple sessions with foreign language teachers within her school district. The sessions will focus on curriculum development that will incorporate efficient interpretive reading strategies in daily instruction that will be reflected in all ... more »

Mr. Crosby will attend a workshop that will focus on the development of individualized instruction across all levels of student need using the Common Core Standards. Mr. Crosby will also attend various professional development strands that cover specific educational ... more »

To improve her Spanish speaking skills to better communicate with Spanish speaking students and their parents, Ms. Lancaster will spend four weeks in intensive language classes in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Through small group classes, individual tutoring sessions, and ... more »

Mrs. Bootsma and Mrs. Vansant will introduce vertically-teamed, collaborative AP social studies and AP English classes at Rancho Verde High School. Eight collaborative team teachers will be granted self initiated workshops that will enable them to vertically align both ... more »

Dr. Pauken will travel to Belize, where she will experience archeological field work, contribute to ongoing research, and gain a deeper understanding of Mayan culture. She will work with archeologists and anthropologists, and will learn how to use the required tools and ... more »

Mrs. Eanes will attend the Davis Dyslexia Correction Methods, a training that will provide insight into how the dyslexic brain works.  At the four day training, Mrs. Eanes will learn theories, principles, and procedures regarding dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, ... more »

Ms. Cummings and Ms. Parsons will participate in the mentoring program of the Journalism Education Association, which will enable them to provide ongoing training and support for new journalism teachers and advisers. Acting as mentors, Ms. Cummings and Ms. Parsons will ... more »

Using iPads, the speech therapy team at Hayward Elementary will enhance student motivation, improve collaboration among educators, and increase student productivity. The technology will bring speech and language therapy into classrooms that previously have not had access to ... more »

Mrs. Shirley and Ms. Forbes will introduce Plants, People, and Our Planet which will allow third and fourth grade students to explore the environmental factors that negatively affect plants and humans. Students will develop a garden and outdoor reading courtyard to ... more »

Eighth grade students from two diverse schools in the Lower Merion School District will collaborate on a yearlong service learning project through Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program. Students will work collaboratively to explore social issues effecting ... more »

Ms. Wuthrick and Ms. Hall will incorporate iPads into the classroom so that students will identify, analyze, and comprehend issues inherent in diverse ecosystems. The learning will enhance students’ understanding of the ways in which living ecosystems function and the ... more »

To improve student literacy and public speaking, Ms. Chill and Ms. Peck’s fourth grade students will host daily news programs for the entire school. The broadcasts will focus primarily on social studies themes, allowing students to report on both past and present ... more »

To address an influx of students at Franklin High School due to the closure of another school within the district, Mrs. Anglada Bartley and Ms. Garrett will expand the Advanced Scholar Program, which requires students to commit to taking four advance placement classes ... more »

Lawrence-Lawson Elementary students will become actively engaged in technology using iPod Touch devices. Feeding the 21st Century Learner with Technology will motivate students to increase their knowledge of reading and math skills while differentiating instruction to meet ... more »

Ms. Persson and Ms. Boardman will incorporate the use of laptop computers into their classrooms to support the integration of the arts and technology with the disciplines of science, language arts, and social studies. Student work in the core curriculum will connect with ... more »

Educators at Spring Hill Elementary will introduce Discover Intensive Phonics with the objective of helping at-risk students increase their decoding and reading skills. Ms. Foland and Mrs. Pena will implement the program and monitor improvements in students’ reading ... more »

The Hudson Appalachia Project will provide students with a service learning opportunity in rural Ohio. Students will participate in a week of service which includes volunteering at several nonprofit and educational organizations. Through classroom instruction and community ... more »

Through Connecting Cultures Across the World, students at Mendenhall Middle School will correspond with their peers in a sister school in Tema, Ghana. Students in each school will create videos about their school, town, region, and country. Video versions of ... more »

Students will explore the realities of extreme poverty in their communities and at the global level through Eradicating Global Issues through 21st Century Technology. Students will identify latent issues and produce videos about the issues and ways to eradicate them. Mrs. ... more »

Mrs. Piscetta and Ms. West will upgrade Belmont Middle School’s Accelerated Reader Program with AR Enterprise, a web based application which will enhance their ability to reach all students. The program is designed to encourage independent reading and measure student ... more »

To increase student engagement and provide differentiation for students in math classes, Mr. de Varona and Mr. Watson will create a new course that integrates algebra and geometry and focuses on project based learning. Students will create and post high quality online ... more »

Ms. Cruse will lead a team of educators in the implementation of Kindles and eBooks at Lawrence School. The project will improve students’ ability to analyze and interpret text by allowing them to practice active reading comprehension strategies while developing ... more »

Through Building Bridges with Ecuador, Ms. Groeneman and Mrs. Lyddane will work with a team of student volunteers to give humanitarian services to indigenous people in Ecuador. Three service teams will provide healthcare, education, and community construction improvements. ... more »

As part of a unit on culture and ethnocentrism, students in Mr. Eldridge’s sociology course will visit local ethnic restaurants, using food as a foundation for broader discussions of culture. Students will work with local chefs to prepare traditional meals of ... more »

Mrs. Dufrene and Mrs. Sevin will introduce the MyMathLab online program into eighth grade pre-algebra classes. The program will allow students to take control of their own learning as they work at their own pace and receive immediate feedback after completing assignments, ... more »

Soaring Higher to Literacy Success will utilize a research based intervention program to help at-risk fourth and fifth graders accelerate their reading ability and apply decoding and comprehension strategies learned in reading class to other subjects. Mrs. Belcher and Mrs. ... more »

To enhance diversity and inclusion at Chestnut Elementary, Ms. Dickenson and Mrs. Carter will develop a school wide program to expose students to multiple cultures. Every month, students at each grade level will choose a different country to research and create digital ... more »

La Mirada Elementary students will participate in historic reenactments to build background knowledge and key vocabulary related to California’s history. Students will be immersed with a tour of a seventeenth century clipper ship, a walk on paths used by Spanish ... more »

To improve English language learners’ understanding of algebra, Mr. Villegas will lead an initiative to offer physics class as a support for ELL algebra students. In teaching algebra and physics in tandem, Mr. Villegas and Mr. Rutherford will transform the physics ... more »

Mrs. Towne will develop a hands-on, face-to-face training program that will enable school nurses to prepare for mandatory online training properly. The program will be a training opportunity that will enable other nurses to correctly use their screening equipment, network ... more »

Mrs. Ibson and six colleagues at Harwood Union Middle/High School will form a study group to explore interactive instructional strategies using iPads to improve engagement and academic performance. After an initial training, the group will research educational apps with a ... more »

Mrs. Robinson-Carney will strengthen her professional practice and improve her teaching performance by obtaining national board certification. Through a series self assessments? including videotaping classroom sessions, documenting quality instruction and planning, and ... more »

To increase her knowledge of integrating student owned technology in the classroom, Ms. Herrmann will attend and present at the Texas Computer Education Association Convention. She will discuss ways to encourage students to use their personal technology as learning tools in ... more »