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	Last updated 09.07.05

2005 Grantee Awards

The William G. Carr Award
Berthica Rodriguez-McCleary, 4th to 12th Grade ESOL Specialist
Dena Sewell, Dual Language Assessment Teacher
ESOL Dual Language Assessment Center
Falls Church, Virginia

After recognizing that their World English (WE) students—from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria—were being inappropriately placed in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, Ms. Rodriguez-McCleary and her team explored alternative programs that met the special needs of WE students. The team collaborated with university researchers and community resource groups to investigate effective instructional strategies. The results shaped the county’s policy on WE instruction and improved services for WE students.

The William G. Carr Award honors a grantee whose professional development activities advance international understanding through acquisition of knowledge in subjects such as history, geography, social sciences, literature, and language or area studies. This award was created as a tribute to the former executive secretary of the NEA for his distinguished service to the association in the United States and abroad.

The Hilda Maehling Award
Patricia Abitabilo, Shauna Beardslee, Marisa Carlisi, Kathleen Choma, and Lauren O’Keefe, Teachers
South Brunswick High School
Monmouth Junction, New Jersey

To reduce the attrition rate at their school, Ms. Abitabilo and her partners analyzed teacher efficacy, its relationship to increasing student achievement, and its decline in teachers who teach less than ten years. Once a month the group explored issues such as classroom practices that improve efficacy, alternative assessments, and responsive learning. Veteran teachers and new teachers partnered to create lesson plans and reflect on their efforts to increase a sense of professional competence and achievement. Pre- and post-surveys assess the study group’s impact on professional expertise.

The Hilda Maehling Award honors a grantee whose professional development activities have significantly enhanced the academic skills of additional faculty or staff members in the school or institution. The award is named for the first NEA assistant executive secretary for professional development for her efforts to enhance the prestige of the profession and to encourage participation in the NEA.

The Christa McAuliffe Award
Paul Brissette, Art & Design Department Chair
Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School
Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts

With more than twenty years of classroom experience, Mr. Brissette exemplifies the power of using technology to revolutionize teaching and learning. He received an Arts@Work Grant from the foundation in 1999, with which he developed a curriculum that requires students to solve engineering and architectural problems using computer-aided design. As an extension of his arts curriculum, Mr. Brissette has established a partnership with the MIT Media Lab and the Harvard School of Design. His “Imagineering” curriculum attracted the attention of Walt Disney’s Imagineers at the Disney “dream factory” and the creative staff of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. This contact resulted in invitations to visit their facilities while he was in Los Angeles to serve as a presenter on the curriculum at the National Art Education Association Conference. He has received numerous national honors for his work, including the Fulbright-Hayes Scholar Award and Walt Disney American Teacher Award.

Mr. Brissette served on The NEA Foundation Board of Directors for three years beginning in 2000. He represented the foundation’s grantees and brought their perspective to the board’s deliberations and decision-making. He has been, and continues to be, an outstanding advocate and spokesperson for the foundation, the NEA, and the teaching profession.

The Christa McAuliffe Award honors a past grantee who has contributed extraordinary service to the foundation or its grantees and has exhibited outstanding innovation in teaching and learning. The award was created in honor of the teacher chosen by NASA to participate in a space flight and who died tragically during the space shuttle launch in January 1986.

The Don Rollie Award
Mitchell Trembicki, 11th to 12th Grade Science Teacher
Susanne Stein, Art Department Chair
Haverford High School
Havertown, Pennsylvania

Using a local apple orchard as their laboratory, Haverford High School students observed the effects of integrated pest management on nonpoint source pollution and disease resistance in plants and insects. Students inspected pheromone traps and tracked degree days, photographed and drew indigenous insects, and analyzed data to control pests and limit pesticide applications. At the conclusion of the project, students created a mural that illustrated how humankind affects the environment. Student research indicated that less expensive forms of pest management were effective in controlling crop damage by certain insects, which helped growers save a significant amount of money.

The Don Rollie Award honors an individual or team of The NEA Foundation's grant recipients whose innovation improves student learning. The award was created to honor a long-time staff member of the National Education Association (NEA) and a friend of The NEA Foundation. It is made possible with the generous support from the Horace Mann Advisory Board.

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