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CEC's 2005 Teachers of the Year
CEC's 2005 Teachers of the Year exhibit the highest standards of
educational quality and achieve significant student success through
proven teaching strategies and innovation.
CEC's 2005 Clarissa Hug Teacher of the
Year
Carol
Dinsdale
Carol Dinsdale, recipient of CEC's 2005 Clarissa Hug Teacher of the Year
Award, represents the best of special education teaching. This creative
educator combines innovation, high standards, technology, and proven
educational techniques to achieve her goal -- to get her second and
third grade students with emotional disturbances OUT of her class and
into general education classes!
Ms. Dinsdale facilitates learning through direct instruction and
creative, "fun" projects that teach academic and social skills. For
example, her students develop a monthly newsletter that is distributed
to the school and write and produce a school brochure. They also tackle
current events. After the 9/11 attack, her students built a Peace Garden
where all students can go to resolve conflicts.
In fact, many of Ms. Dinsdale's class activities involve students and
teachers from general education and benefit the entire school. Her
students write and perform puppet shows for primary students, share
information about animal behavior with other classes, and perform
karaoke on the school's Morning Show. Her class also used technology to
demonstrate the fragility of the Florida Watershed to the intermediate
students.
Assessment is ongoing in Ms. Dinsdale's class. Students graph their
progress, discuss their progress in class meetings, and conduct their
own IEP meetings. With student ownership and Ms. Dinsdale's guidance,
her students placed in the top 5 percent of the Reading Counts program,
and many of her students achieve Level 3 and Level 4 scores on the state
FCAT tests, competing academically with their non-disabled peers.
A National Board Certified teacher, Ms. Dinsdale is a leader in her
school, district, and state. She works with colleagues to improve
curriculum, serves as coordinator for a motivational program for
minority students, mentors new teachers, and is a professor at the
University of South Florida where she also supervises interns.
Ms. Dinsdale refers to her students as Exceptional Heroes. Ms. Dinsdale,
you, too, are an Exceptional Hero.
CEC's 2005 State/Provincial and Division
Teachers of the Year
José
Belinda Andrews-Brumfield
Pittsburg, Kansas
Belinda Andrews-Brumfield is the inspiration behind Southeast Kansas's
Special Education Cooperative. As a result, Ms. Andrews-Brumfield's
elementary students with severe multiple disabilities benefit from a
team of education experts and therapists. Ms. Andrews-Brumfield's "never
give up" spirit ensures her students succeed. She seeks new methods to
help her students learn and become part of the mainstream, obtains
equipment that helps her students master IEP goals, and helps students
transfer skills to new environments. Just as important is her
compassion. Ms. Andrews-Brumfield will "stop the teaching to hold and
hug her students," which she says is just as important as academics. Ms.
Andrews-Brumfield also mentors new educators, is on the board of several
education organizations, and coordinates Very Special Arts activities.
Ms. Andrews-Brumfield, you are a very special special educator.
Barbara Hayes Brown
Statesboro, Georgia
When it comes to teaching, Barbara Hayes Brown is in a league of her
own. When her middle school students with emotional disorders enter her
class, they find a child-friendly environment filled with creativity,
academic projects, technology, and high interest reading materials --
all of which engage them in learning. Ms. Brown's students also work
with general education students. In A Walk Through Time, a curriculum
she co-created, more than 250 students, including those with
disabilities, research and develop a living history timeline. Ms.
Brown's students thrive: 96 percent progress in reading each year, and
nearly all achieve mastery on the state's competency assessment. Ms.
Brown is also a leader. In addition to teaching at Georgia Southern
University and mentoring new teachers, she serves on school improvement
committees, presents at conferences, and has been published in Education
Week, Education Leadership, and other educational books and journals.
Ms. Brown is an exceptional teacher who makes learning come alive for
her students.
Rene Bryan
Mandan, North Dakota
Rene Bryan does whatever it takes to ensure her high school students
with emotional disorders succeed. When the general education curriculum
wasn't working for her students, she created an alternate curriculum and
got it approved by the school board. Her curriculum, for which students
receive high school credits, includes social skills and Life Centered
Career Education. Ms. Bryan was also a leader in implementing service
learning, which gives her students the opportunity to practice academic
and social skills in the real world. Students also come to Ms. Bryan for
personal goals. She helps them prepare for driving exams and takes them
to the exam site, all while coaching them and boosting their belief in
themselves. With Ms. Bryan's guidance and support, her students have a
graduation rate of more than twice the national rate for students with
ED, and most are successfully employed after graduation. With Ms. Bryan
behind them, her students know they will succeed -- in school and in
life.
Keely Hipp
CEC Division on Visual Impairments
Without Keely Hipp, the students at the North Carolina Governor
Moorehead School for the Blind would not have the opportunity to
experience art. She created the program for students with visual
impairments, ages 5-21, which has given the students a door to
self-expression and self-confidence. Step into Ms. Hipp's class, and
you'll find students fully engaged with smiles on their faces -- unless
their faces are emerged in plaster while making face masks! Ms. Hipp
develops approximately 100 different curricula, all individually based.
Just a sample of the many different types of art Ms. Hipp's students
create include relief sculptures, tactile impressions, and vegetable
prints. Ms. Hipp also takes her students to see art for those who are
visually impaired or by artists who are visually impaired. The work of
Ms. Hipp's students is widely appreciated. It is displayed on campus,
and it will be exhibited at the Durham Art Council this fall. Ms. Hipp,
thanks to you, your students enjoy a new, wonderful world.
Kaye Majoch
Milford, Delaware
"I'll do whatever is best for the kids," is the motto of Kaye Majoch,
teacher of high school students with moderate disabilities. Ms. Majoch
often team-teaches, where she ensures no one can discern which students
have disabilities. However, if a student is struggling, she works with
the administration to get the student another temporary or permanent
program. Ms. Majoch's dedication to her students often extends beyond
the classroom. She helps her students get glasses, provides
transportation to school and doctors' appointments, and works with
graduated students who still need assistance. She also set up a summer
employment program, which was not funded, for her students. In addition,
Ms. Majoch has served on state education committees, participated in IEP
pilots, and assisted with curriculum development. Ms. Majoch never gives
up on her students. As a result, her students don't give up on
education.
Ann Mulhollen
Woodbine, Maryland
While Ann Mulhollen enjoys working with successful students, she lives
for the challenge of assisting and encouraging the struggling student.
Maybe that's because Ms. Mulhollen has a special understanding of and
empathy for those students -- she has dyslexia. She shares her own
learning struggles with her middle school students with learning
disabilities as she urges them to persevere so they can achieve their
goals. At the same time, she is their ally and advocate, ensuring they
receive the same opportunities as their non-disabled peers. Ms.
Mulhollen is also involved with the STEMM grant, which bridges the gap
between fifth and sixth grade math. This innovative learning strategy,
which will be implemented county-wide next year, uses journaling and
manipulatives to teach students math concepts. Ms. Mulhollen, who is
highly respected by her students and colleagues, also mentors new
teachers. Ms. Mulhollen's mission is to make life better for her
students. She succeeds.
Martha Vaché
Winchester, Illinois
Martha Vaché, pre-vocational coordinator for high school students
with moderate disabilities, helps students achieve their dreams and
goals. Her first step is helping students identify their learning
styles, which they can then apply in school as well as in the workplace.
Second, Ms. Vaché ensures students have the foundation they need,
even if that means teaching high school students how to read. Third, she
makes all academic work challenging and hands-on. Her students thrive
when creating power point presentations or writing essays on the
computer. Third, she helps her students find jobs they are interested
in, can relate to, will be good at, and can do after they graduate. With
Ms. Vaché's preparation and guidance, her students meet with
success -- 85 percent of her former students are employed. Ms.
Vaché is also the lead teacher for the district's special education
program, presents on co-teaching at the state and district levels, and
has been a 4-H leader at the Illinois School for the Blind for 30+
years. Ms. Vaché, you give students the skills to be successful
wherever life takes them.
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