Schools

The Foundation for Excellence in Education Hands Out Awards

The non-profit gives more than $13,500 to educators in Athens, Ga., public schools as the 2012 awards.

 

Twelve of the Clarke County School District’s outstanding educators have been rewarded for excellence in teaching, leadership and community service. The Foundation for Excellence in Education has awarded $13,600 to educators in the Athens' public schools. In addition, teachers at nine schools, plus the Office of Nursing in the district, will share $14,000 in grants for fund innovative learning projects.

"It is always so wonderful for the Foundation for Excellence trustees to make the award presentations to the teachers," said president Susan Dodson. "The Foundation is fortunate to be able to honor so many outstanding educators and is very grateful for the community’s support in making this possible."

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The 2012 award recipients are:  

The Dr. Walter Allen, Sr. Excellence in Teaching Award goes to Timothy Stoudenmire – Clarke Central High School

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The Frusanna S. Booth Award for Teachers in English and Language Arts goes to Stephen-Robert Castile – Cedar Shoals High School

The Charlotte Brown Award for Teachers of Special Education goes to Pamela Garcia – Barnett Shoals Elementary/Special Education Coordinator, Board Office

The Lamar Dodd Award for Teachers of Fine Arts goes to Rita Foretich – Barrow Elementary School

The Kathryn H. Hug Instructional Leadership Award goes to Meredith Blackburn – Clarke Central High School

The Margaret and Raymond Ponsoldt Award for Elementary School Teaching goes to Kelly Hocking – Barrow Elementary School

The Howard B. Stroud Award for Community Service goes to Lenore Katz – Clarke Central High School

The Freida M. Thomas Teacher of Promise Award goes to Michelle Hart – Barrow Elementary School

The FFE Excellence in Teaching Award Winners are

Katherine Brown - J.J. Harris Elementary Charter School;  

Dorothy Wylie Jones - Hilsman Middle School;

Kimberly Lang - Gaines Elementary School;

Jan Mullins - Barrow Elementary School.

The non-profit awarded nineteen grants for a variety of projects. The endowed projects are:

The Eve Carson Memorial Service Learning Grant ($1000) was awarded to Julie Throne of Cedar Shoals High School to construct a large vegetable garden. Students will select vegetables, grow them in a greenhouse and transplant them into the garden. They will maintain the garden and harvest the vegetables. Some vegetables will be donated to the food bank, and some will be served on the school salad bar.

The Friends of Eve Carson Grant ($500) was presented to Erika Douglas of Gaines Elementary School. Students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities will be exposed to a variety of recreational and leisure activities related to the arts.

The Carol Ann Colquitt Special Education Grant ($500) was awarded to Sharon Pendley, the district's director of nursing. The grant will purchase a Nickie Special Needs Training Manikin, which will provide hands-on instruction in performing medical procedures and increase confidence and skills in caring for special education students.

The Todd Cooper Memorial Grant for Technology and Equipment ($500) was awarded to Kisha Bailey of Timothy Road Elementary School. Third through fifth graders will receive hands-on experience taking photographs, uploading images, editing and proofing data for a yearbook.

The Jimmy Morris Memorial Fine Arts Grant ($500) was awarded to Melanie Powers of Whitehead Road Elementary School. Powers was actually awarded a total of $1,000 for two projects – one in which students will create original soundscapes and musical patterns, using vocal sounds and various instruments to enhance their reading and enjoyment of literature. The other will be used for a mentoring project in which elementary students will be mentored by middle school band students. They will communicate via Skype to learn about instruments and interview musicians.

The Lane Turner Norton Literacy Grant ($500) was awarded to Kacy Tedder of Clarke Central High School. She will buy books for weekly book clubs that will introduce readers to a variety of novels. Book club members will participate in a state-wide reading competition.

The Charlotte and Claude Williams American History Grant ($500) was awarded to Rebecca Hall-Barrett of Chase Street Elementary School. This grant will supply historical fiction textbooks to fourth graders for book clubs

In addition to the competitive grants, the Foundation for Excellence also awarded the Arthur Moog Middleton Memorial Media Center Grant to the media centers at Cedar Shoals High School and Clarke Central High School. The grant will provide $250 to each school for the purchase of challenging books.

In addition, several general classroom grants were awarded for a variety of projects. Recipients for these grants are listed below.

$1,000 grants

Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School, BHL Guitar Project, Christina Esposito

Coile Middle School, Going Green with Georgia Geography, Kelli Bivins

Coile Middle School, Robotic Cougars, Hilary Ruston

Cedar Shoals High School, Field Experiences for Junior and Senior Students: An Opportunity for Enrichment, Jackie Elder

Cedar Shoals High School, Get Real: Reading Non-fiction for Common Core, Kerry Hogan

Whitehead Road Elementary School, Diary of a Koalaty Kid, Yvonne Manley

 Whitehead Road Elementary School, Telling Stories With Quilts, Yvonne Manley

$500 grants

Cleveland Road Elementary School, Poetry in Motion: Reading and Writing Poetry at Home and at School, Gwen Bailey

Fowler Drive Elementary School, Grade Appropriate Content Book, Shannon Goodrick

Gaines Elementary School, Science Squared!, Susie Criswell

Timothy Road Elementary School, Using iPads to Achieve Essential Literacy Skills in Kindergarten, Wynter Gayle McBride


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