Seventy high school teachers from across Western New York will gather on Wednesday, May 8, to celebrate their successes at a recognition dinner and ceremony presented by the Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development at the University of Rochester. The teachers from six area counties were selected by their schools for exceptional work in 2002.
In addition to the festivities at the Memorial Art Gallery, the awardees, their principals and guests are invited to attend their choice of two "guided dialogues" led by Warner School professors. The sessions are related to this year's award ceremony theme, Excellent Teachers Are a Necessary Component for Equity in Education. The sessions will be offered simultaneously from 5 to 6 p.m. at the gallery.
Sonia-James Wilson will make brief introductory remarks and facilitate a group dialogue on "Pedagogies that Support Equity in Education." Brian Brent will follow a similar format to discuss "Using Education Resources Equitably (Fairly) and Wisely." The dialogues are free and open to the public.
The Warner School Awards for Excellence in High School Teaching are given to teachers whose practices reflect the attributes needed to improve the education system: They are student-centered, use innovative teaching techniques, believe that all children can learn and do learn in unique ways, and are themselves lifelong learners. Their schools, usually through processes that involve students, select awardees.
The award celebration is made possible by a grant from Marion A. and Leonard S. Simon. Mrs. Simon graduated from the University of Rochester with a doctoral degree in education, has taught school at the secondary level, and held several professional positions in local institutions of higher education. Mr. Simon is the retired vice chairman of Charter One Financial, Inc., the holding company of Charter One Bank.
The couple has a long history of support for educational reform and quality teacher preparation. "Recognizing the contributions of outstanding teachers is an essential way for our community to show our respect for their work and to support them for the daily, extraordinary effort they expend, often under the most difficult of circumstances, on behalf of our children," says Marion Simon.
From among the winners, an awards committee singled out three educators for special attention. This year's distinguished teachers are: Robert Burke, a science teacher at Bishop Kearney High School in Irondequoit; Dennis James Lavoie, a Spanish teacher at Fairport High School; and Margaret A. (Peg) Swingle, who teachers business education at Greece Athena High School.
In addition to teaching courses in biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, and anatomy, Burke has dramatically increased student enrollment at Bishop Kearney in chemistry and physics classes. He has created and maintains an in-school zoological habitat with reptiles and other exotic specimens.
Lavoie, who teaches both Spanish and French at Fairport, is the author of 5 Steps to a 5: AP Spanish Language (McGraw Hill, 2002). He is also one of five developers of Spanish ¿Nos Conocemos?, and has been honored at a Phi Beta Kappa event by a former student as "the teacher who most influenced my educational career."
Swingle, a 30-year-plus veteran teacher, has developed a curriculum that her principal says is noteworthy for its inclusion of students with disabilities. She continuously innovates, advances her own learning, and prepares her students for life in a global, information-based society. Testimonials from many former students and parents document her lasting influence on those whose lives she has touched. Her teaching philosophy is summarized in a quote by the late educator and child psychologist Haim Ginott. It is taped to her cupboard door and Swingle reads it every morning before school begins:
"I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess the tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torment or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized."
The Warner School (on the Web at www.rochester.edu/warner/) offers master's degree and doctoral degree programs in teaching, curriculum and change, counseling and human development, and educational leadership. Within the Warner School, the Center for Professional Development and Education Reform works with local educational institutions to support the cause of education reform and to encourage the preparation and ongoing education of excellent teachers.