|
 |
|
|
The McGlothlin Awards for
Teaching Excellence
2001 Winners |
|
|
|
The 2001 McGlothlin Awards for Teaching Excellence
Blue Ridge PBS and a panel of distinguished judges from the region's education community congratulate the winners of the 2001 McGlothlin Award for Teaching Excellence—two prizes of $25,000.00 each. The McGlothlin Awards, established in March 2000 by the McGlothlin Foundation, are among the largest awards for the recognition of teaching excellence in the United States. A stipulation of the awards is that $10,000.00 of the $25,000.00 prize is to be used for international travel to broaden the thinking and experience of the winning teachers, further enhancing their excellence as professional educators in a global society.
|
|
Karen Cross
E.B. Stanley Middle School,
Washington County, Virginia
 Since she began her career in education as a drop-out prevention coordinator ten years ago, Karen has consistently used her experience as a world traveler in the lessons she teaches. As an 8th grade World Geography teacher she has visited Israel and Germany, and last year was awarded a Fulbright Memorial Scholarship to travel to Japan with other educators. The experiences and artifacts that she brings home with her help her students to make connections from their rural school division to other people and their cultures. She says that one of the most rewarding aspects of her career has been the cultivation of a love of travel in her students.
"In June I am sponsoring 28 middle
school students on a trip to the
Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.
Our goal is to explore the Mayan
ruins located on the peninsula.
We will leave on June 18 and return
on June 24. We hope to provide
daily updates, including journal
entries and pictures. To
prepare for the trip, each student
conducted research related to
Mexico, and prepared a report.
These, plus pictures, and a short
biography is on our website.
One our the students, Justin Terry,
designed the webpage.
Sincerely,
Karen D. Cross, Teacher
E.B. Stanley Middle School
Abingdon, VA
|
|
Note: Karen has since been
on her trip to Mexico... below
are some pictures to enjoy! |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
Karen Nelson,
First Grade Teacher, Perrymont Elementary,
Lynchburg, Virginia
 In her mid-thirties, Karen left a career as a personnel recruiter for a Northern Virginia hospital to go back to school to become an elementary school teacher. Ten years later, there are a lot of students and parents in her school who are glad she did. She is a lifelong learner who is continually updating her skills in the areas of technology utilization and teaching practices, and she shares her skills with her colleagues. She works hard to make connections, as demonstrated by her science lesson on the properties of matter, which included making butter, ice cream--and slime! Karen
used her travel stipend from the McGlothlin Award to go to Seoul, South Korea to visit the classroom of Mr. Kim, a third grade teacher who came to her class in 1997 as part of a teacher exchange program. |
| |
Special thanks go to Tom McGlothlin and the McGlothlin Foundation for making this important recognition of teaching excellence possible. The McGlothlin Awards for Teaching Excellence are administered by Blue Ridge PBS's Education Department.
|
|
