Students and Teachers in
Pittsburgh Schools Receive Year End Honors and Awards
by Stacy Andell
Six Pittsburgh Schools' Teachers
Honored for Excellence
Each year teachers across the state of Pennsylvania have the chance to win
educational grants. Only teachers of excellence are considered then the best are
chosen to receive the grants. The two thousand five hundred dollar grants are
awarded by the Teacher Excellence Center. This year's grant recipients include
six Pittsburgh Schools' teachers: Jennifer Ernsthausen, a third-grade teacher at
Burgwin Elementary School in Glen Hazel; Karen M. Lewis, a first-grade teacher
at Allard Elementary in the Moon Area School District; Sandra McWilliams, a
second-grade teacher at Pleasant Valley Elementary School in Peters; Ron
Sakolsky, a seventh-grade history teacher at A.E. Oblock Junior High School in
Plum; George Savarese, a 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade history teacher at Mt.
Lebanon High School; and Jeffrey Schilling, a seventh-grade English teacher at
Independence Middle School in Bethel Park. These teachers were not just chosen
at random but had to submit essays and were judged in a variety of categories by
peers, parents and students. The final decisions were made by a panel of top
educators who had to choose from more than three thousand nominees and then
interviewing over one hundred finalist. In addition to the $2,500 grant, each
teacher was awarded a field trip for their classes to the Carnegie Science
Center, the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium or the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh
Regional History Center.
Ten Pittsburgh Schools' Teachers Gain National Certification
In the teaching profession the highest teaching certification that a teacher can
hold is that of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
Certification. This is a much more rigorous process than that of state
certification. Ten Pittsburgh School teachers have succeeded in gaining National
Board Certification at the end of this school year. Many teachers and
administrators consider this to be the profession's top honor. In the purely
volunteer process set by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards,
National Board Certification is achieved by participating in performance-based
assessment that often takes up to three years to complete and examines the
teacher's or school counselor's knowledge and accomplishments. The current
number of National Board Certified teachers in the Pittsburgh Schools has risen
to twenty-five.
Pittsburgh Women's Service Club Announces Scholarships The Zonta Club of
Pittsburgh, a professional women's service organization, in cooperation with
Pittsburgh Schools will award thirteen female students with scholarships. The
Zonta Club is a group that aims to promote and unite successful women in fields
such as business, academia, healthcare, government, social services and the arts
through a commitment to service. The Pittsburgh chapter was chartered in 1934.
Zonta International was founded in 1919 and now has over 35,000 members in
seventy countries. The Pittsburgh area Zonta Club with the Pittsburgh Schools
awarded three seniors and ten juniors with Amelia Earhart Awards and
Scholarships. The ten juniors received Amelia Earhart Awards for exhibiting the
ideals of Zonta by persevering to become contributing members of their schools
and communities. Three seniors pursuing postsecondary education will receive two
Amelia Earhart Scholarships and one Duquesne Light Amelia Earhart Scholarship of
$2,500 each.
About the Author:
Stacy Andell is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth
reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. Stacy has a nose for
research and writes stimulating news and views on school issues. For more on
Pittsburgh schools visit
http://www.schoolsk-12.com/Pennsylvania/Pittsburgh/index.html
Source of article:
www.goarticles.com
| |
|