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CFES.org > News And Events > Press Releases > Foundation Awards 40000 in Excellence In Education Awards

Foundation Awards $40,000 in Excellence In Education Awards
November 16, 2009

The Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore honored Maryland Lower Shore schools and educators with $40,000 in grants through the Foundation’s 2009 Excellence in Education Program.

Excellence In Education Awards are made annually in conjunction with National Education Week through a competitive process to public and private schools on the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. Grants are made to those schools that have demonstrated through innovative programs to be particularly beneficial to their students and communities.

“This awards program is the Community Foundation’s principle vehicle for recognizing and rewarding those schools that are engaged in making a particularly creative contribution to the education of our children,” said Art Cooley, Foundation Board Chair. “These awards recognize truly remarkable things our dedicated teachers and school administrators are accomplishing,” he added.

Calcott Award of Excellence

The Community Foundation honored Pocomoke Middle School in Worcester County with the Fifth Annual Mary Gay Calcott Award of Excellence. The award is presented to the most creative education program submitted for a 2009 Excellence In Education Award. In addition to the Calcott Award Pocomoke Middle School also received $500 from the Foundation’s Mary Gay Calcott Memorial Fund to benefit the school.

The award is named for the late Mary Gay Calcott, a professor of English at Salisbury University whose life embodied her teaching ideals of liberal education; teaching students to think, to express themselves with clarity and to care about the world they live in.

Educational Leadership Award

Ms. Lisa Hopkins, principal at Somerset Intermediate School (SIS) in Somerset County received the Foundation’s 2009 Educational Leadership Award. The purpose of this award is to recognize local educational administrators who go above and beyond for their students, school and community. In addition to the leadership award, the Foundation also presented Ms. Hopkins with a $1,000 grant to be used for the benefit of students at Somerset Intermediate School.

Dr. Spicer Bell, President of the Foundation, noted that Ms. Hopkins had earned the award, “for her vision, leadership, innovation and commitment to positive change. It is abundantly clear that Ms. Hopkins has high expectations for herself, SIS faculty and staff, and its students.”

Dr. Bell added, “While setting the bar high, she recognizes the need for celebrating successes, large and small. She challenges herself and others to do more and do better, and is the first to highlight those achievements. Gains in Maryland State Achievement reading and math test scores support the progress that students can make when encouraged to learn and grow to the fullest extent possible.”

The following 18 schools received Excellence In Education Awards for 2009 during ceremonies held at the Community Foundation’s Eastern Shore Nonprofit Support Center in Salisbury:

In Somerset County:

Carter G. Woodson Elementary School - The Kids of Honor program at the school empowers youth to graduate from high school by providing interventions and support for each student that builds personal life and character skills. Students are regularly recognized for their positive behavior. At the end of the school year a male and female student are awarded a $500 scholarship which will be invested and presented to the students upon graduation from high school.

Deal Island School - Students participate in a program of Student Exhibition Days that highlight their achievements to parents and the community. Students engage in real world collaborative tasks that result in creating useful products. On Exhibition Days during the school year the students display their products and share what they have learned from the experience.

Somerset Intermediate School - The school will incorporate MP3 players into sixth and seventh grade instruction to enhance literacy and learning opportunities. The MP3 players will assist struggling readers through individualized instruction and increase student achievement in reading and writing.

In Wicomico County:

Lower Eastern Shore Children’s Center - The school will implement a Positive Behavior Support program for incarcerated youth attending school in the facility. The Center enrolls about 300 to 350 students from 12-20 years in age. The program encourages positive behavior and instructional time in the classroom and strives to decrease negative behavior throughout the facility.

Northwestern Elementary School - The school will implement a program to increase student achievement in reading through the purchase and use of 20 iPods for students from Pre-K through 5th grade. A mobile lab will allow students access to multi-media items and the internet using the iPods.

Pemberton Elementary School - Fourth graders who are at risk because of a lack of motivation and negative behavior will meet once a week with Rhythm Leaders, a group of young leaders in the community. The leaders will allow students to discuss life and school concerns in a non-threatening setting. The fourth graders will also present musical performances for the school and community throughout the school year.

Pemberton Elementary School - Students struggling with problems such as visual perception, auditory processing, attention, impulse, eye-hand coordination and physical balance will benefit from a neuron-development stimulation program called The Boost-Up program. This program integrates academics and neurological development for kindergarten students that are having difficulty in learning as a result of these types of problems.

Pinehurst Elementary School - The Everybody Playspace will offer a safe, inclusive play environment for the school’s disabled and non-disabled students. The playspace provides students with access to physical recreation and opportunity for social interaction.

Prince Street Elementary School - Fifth grade students will meet once a week to learn and practice keyboarding skills by participating in a Computer Club that emphasizes technology literacy.

Prince Street Elementary School - The school conducts an annual school-wide book swap that allows students to exchange books with other students with the goal of providing each student with at least three new books. The swap encourages students to read independently and for pleasure.

Westside Intermediate School - The school will implement an artist-in-residency program for second graders entitled “ InterAct Story Theater.” Through this partnership second grade teachers will work with an artist to incorporate the use of creative drama into reading instruction to promote comprehension and language skills.

Westside Primary School - The school will start a digital storytelling program to motivate students to communicate through writing, reading, photos and oral language. Stories are written and read by the students to go with the digital photos.

Wicomico High School - The school will conduct an excellence in singing program for choral students to provide instruction that features musical composition criticism and to increase musical literacy. Immediate feedback will be available through the use of a document camera and LCD projector.

Wicomico Middle School - The school will supplement a Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies (PBIS) program by creating a TV studio to be used to broadcast daily video announcements and other communications to students in grades six through eight. The program will promote a safe and positive environment conducive to learning.

Willards Elementary School - The school will use an artist-in-residency program to integrate art experiences for first grade students into the curriculum. Students will incorporate dance, storytelling and cultural studies of India into a daily art experience. First graders will participate in a performance for schoolmates and parents at the conclusion of the program.

In Worcester County:

Snow Hill Elementary School - Students ages 3-5 working to overcome speech and language problems resulting from health impairments are participating in an early intervention program. Students participate in activities to improve communication, cognition and social skills and utilize an interactive computerized white board to improve communication and motor skills.

Pocomoke Middle School - Eighth grade students will prepare 100 children/baby hygiene kits for the new Pocomoke Samaritan Shelter Women and Children’s wing. The program will be one of the fall service learning projects for the students. Each kit will also include books to reinforce the importance of reading.

Pocomoke Middle School - The school will host an artist-in-residency program entitled “Keeping the Beat” that will share contemporary and traditional American dances with students. A culminating performance will showcase students and professional dancers and illuminate historical and multicultural perspectives of different American dances.

Pocomoke Middle School(PMS) received three 2009 Excellence In Education Awards from the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, more than any school on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. PMS received the Mary Gay Calcott Award of Excellence for the most creative education program submitted in 2009 and grants for two programs. One program provides assistance to the Pocomoke Samaritan Shelter Women and Children’s wing, and the other is an artist-in-residency program that teaches multicultural understanding through traditional American dances. Pictured above are Jon Andes, Superintendent of Worcester County Schools; and PMS teacher Monica Forrester, who is the coordinator for the artist-in-residency program.

Lisa Hopkins, principal of Somerset Intermediate School, received the 2009 Educational Leadership Award from the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore’s (CFES) Excellence In Education Program. The award is presented to local educational administrators who go above and beyond for their students, school and community. Pictured (l to r) are: Melody Nelson, CFES Board Secretary; Lisa Hopkins; Karen Lee Brofee, Somerset County Superintendent of Schools; and Dr. Spicer Bell, CFES President.

Three Somerset County Schools received 2009 Excellence In Education Awards from the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore. Somerset Intermediate School principal Lisa Hopkins also received the Foundation’s 2009 Educational Leadership Award. The three schools honored with awards and grants were: Carter G. Woodson Elementary; Deal Island School, and Somerset Intermediate School.

Twelve Wicomico County Schools received 2009 Excellence In Education Awards from the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore. The awards are made annually in conjunction with National Education Week and recognize schools that have demonstrated innovative programs that benefit their students and communities. A total of $40,000 in Excellence in Education grants were awarded to schools on the Lower Shore through the Foundation program.