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Middle school teachers earn recognition
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Five CVMS teachers were recently chosen as Jennings scholars and attended a five-day teaching institute. Shelby Sigler (left), Jo Taylor, and Patti Hockensmith attended the program together. Two teachers who also were honored but not present were Shelly Dwyer and Diane Tirak.
By ABBY SLANKER
Canfield Local School District teachers Shelly Dwyer, Patti Hockensmith, Shelby Sigler, Velina “Jo” Taylor and Diane Tirak were recently recognized by the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation as a 2010 Jennings Educators Institute alumnae during an awards brunch hosted by the College of Education, Health and Human Services at Kent State University.
The foundation honored more than 100 primary and secondary education classroom teachers as Jennings scholars.
The ceremony culminated a three-part workshop series that provided participating teachers the opportunity to enhance classroom instruction through solid curriculum, quality instruction and sound assessment practices.
All five honorees teach at Canfield Village Middle School. Dwyer is in her second year teaching eighth-grade math after teaching seventh-grade math for five years in the 1990.
According to Dwyer, the Jennings Educators Institute has a great reputation of quality programs for teachers.
“I know it was an honor to be selected to participate in the Jennings Educators Institute. It has a very strong reputation of quality programs for teachers. I feel very lucky to be chosen, and I think we were so fortunate that we were able to go as a building team,” she said.
“We learned about the challenge of defining ‘great’ teaching and about a project that Battelle for Kids is working on to do just that,” Dwyer said.
Hockensmith is in her 17th year teaching learning disabled students, with her first 13 years at C.H. Campbell Elementary, and the last three (and the present one) at CVMS.
“It was an honor to have been chosen to participate in this institute which is known for their quality programs. The fact that there is an organization that is willing to improve teacher education and student learning is outstanding and I am honored to be a part of that program,” Hockensmith explained.
“We learned methods in which to self-evaluate and reflect on our teaching. I really think that going as a team was an advantage that most others did not have.”
Sigler is in her eighth year as the seventh-grade Intervention Specialist. She said each teacher was honored to be recognized by the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.
“I feel that it was an honor to be selected to participate in the Jennings Educator Institute because of the distinguished reputation of the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation. As educators, we regularly attend professional development opportunities so that we can be the most effective teachers possible for our students. Participating in the Effectiveness to the Nth Power: Moving from ‘Good to Great’ as a Teacher provided such an opportunity for my colleagues and me to take part in to continue this work.”
Taylor is in her third year as the seventh grade/eighth grade Unit Principal, while prior to that she was an language arts consultant with the Mahoning County Educational Service Center.
“We were excited about the opportunity to attend the sessions as a middle school team. We knew the reputation of the Jennings Foundation and expected to grow as teachers and to improve our everyday practice with our students. We were certainly not disappointed and came back from each session with lots of things to think about.”
Tirak teaches seventh-grade math and language arts and has been in the Canfield school system since 1992.
“I (along with Shelby Sigler and Debbie Haverstock) was fortunate to receive a grant from the Jennings Foundations two years ago. The grant provided us with technology for all three of our classrooms, including laptops, screens, interwrite learning pads and software. This is truly wonderful foundation that is dedicated to teachers and students,” she said.
Since establishing the program in 1963, more than 25,000 Ohio teachers have become Jennings Scholars.
For more information about the Jennings Foundation, visit www.mhjf.org.
The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation is also known for providing extensive grant funding, as an attempt to support programmatic aspects of school projects, as well as providing aid to populations and districts that are considered underserved.
Hockensmith said the workshops enabled her to re-energize and she and the other teachers benefited from being able to attend them.