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Howard Elementary School teacher named as finalist for Christa McAuliffe teaching award
Howard Elementary School second-grade teacher Tess Westover has been selected as a Teacher of Distinction in the 2011 Christa McAuliffe competition through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Education and Human Sciences.
Westover will be recognized at a luncheon on March 6 at the UNL East Campus Student Union in Lincoln.
Westover began working for Grand Island Public Schools in 2003 as a teacher at Howard Elementary School.
Kathy Bohac of Valparaiso, who teaches fourth- through seventh-grade math at East Butler Public Schools in Brainerd, was named the Christa McAuliffe Prize for Courage and Excellence in Education recipient. Bohac will receive a $1,000 award and $500 to sponsor East Butler Public Schools activities.
Westover; Jacalyn Groesser, a seventh-grade world history teacher at Ralston Middle School; and Jack Broderick, an agricultural sciences teacher at Seward High School, will receive Teacher of Distinction recognition.
Westover earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Peru State College and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Doane College.
Ten people submitted nomination or support letters for Westover, including Howard Elementary School Principal Julie Schnitzler.
“Mrs. Westover, a native of the Philippines, married a member of the United States Air Force and moved to the United States, where she courageously earned her teaching certificate in her second language, English. Mrs. Westover had to overcome many challenges and persevere through the years to finally reach her goal of teaching children,” Schnitzler wrote.
Schnitzler noted that Westover chooses to work in an elementary school where 90 percent of students qualify for free or reduced price meals, 66 percent of students are English Language Learners, and more than two-thirds of the students do not work at grade level in reading or math. Westover is responsible for teaching second-grade curriculum to students who may be two grade levels below their peers.
Kris Burling is director of English Language Acquisition and Migrant Programs for Grand Island Public Schools, was principal at Howard from 2002 through 2008, and hired Westover to teach second grade at Howard.
“As with all my staff, I worked closely with her in several capacities and observed immediately that she was a standout teacher. I took immediate notice that she was one of our most committed, dedicated, and courageous teachers at our building as well as school district,” Burling wrote in her nomination letter.
Hannah Liming, a sixth-grade teacher at Conestoga Elementary School in Murray, was a student teacher in Westover’s classroom for 10 weeks during the spring of 2010.
“By the end of my 10 weeks in Mrs. Westover’s classroom, her guidance left me extremely confident in my own ability to manage an elementary classroom,” Liming wrote. “She is an outstanding teacher and deserves to be recognized for the superior job she does.”
Westover is president of Grand Island’s Epsilon Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honorary organization for female educators. Westover has served as the second- grade representative on the school district’s science curriculum committee and a school district committee concerning a continuous school calendar. Howard was chosen as the first elementary school in Grand Island to adopt the continuous school calendar.
The nomination process is extensive and usually includes 15 to 25 typed pages per nominee. Completed applications were due at the end of January and included a nomination letter; a teaching philosophy submitted by the teacher; an essay on how the teacher exemplified courage in education, commitment to excellence, creativity, and the ability to inspire; a professional résumé; and up to eight letters of recommendation.
This year will be the 25th presentation of the Christa McAuliffe Prize for Courage and Excellence in Education. The prize was started as a memorial for Christa McAuliffe, the teacher and astronaut who died in the Challenger space shuttle accident in January 1986.
Dr. Gregg Wright, an associate professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center on Children, Family, and the Law, founded the prize.
“After the explosion, I wanted to recognize other courageous teachers,” Wright said. With the help of the University of Nebraska Foundation, the award program was created.
For more information about the award, visit the Christa McAuliffe Prize website,
http://courage.unl.edu
For more information, contact: Julie Schnitzler, Principal, Howard Elementary School, 502 W. Ninth St., (308) 385-5916, jschnitz@gips.org; Tess Westover, Second-Grade Teacher, Howard Elementary School, (308) 385-5916, twestove@gips.org; Jenny Patrick, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, jpatrick2@unl.edu, (402) 472-5400; or Ellen Hirst, University of Nebraska- Lincoln, ehirst33@huskers.unl.edu, (847) 542-3339