June 2017

South River High School STEM teacher Josh Carroll, a 17-year AACPS veteran who has spent his entire career at the high school level, was named the 2016-17 Anne Arundel County Public Schools Teacher of the Year at the 31^st Annual Excellence in Education Awards in April. The event is presented by the Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce.

Carroll told the crowd of more than 600 attendees, “The most important thing I can do to help a student achieve is to help that student understand that they have somebody caring about them, somebody wanting them to be successful.”  It was a wonderful evening celebrating excellence in education throughout our county. Read the full press release here.

 

Every May, AACPS hosts a Volunteer Tea to recognize the more than 18,000 volunteers that give 570,000 hours of time to our schools. As a result of that dedication, it is estimated that more than $15.3 million was donated back in time and talent for our students. It was an honor to recognize this year’s Volunteer of the Year, Bruce Morgenstern, for his work with our high school Signature programs. This year’s Crystal Apple Award went to the “For One Child” mentoring program at Annapolis Elementary School and Al Middleton was recognized for his work at Tyler Heights Elementary with the Brenda Schoener Legacy Award.  In addition, every region was presented an award for a special volunteer project in their area. Read the full press release here.

Tyler Heights Elementary won the Facebook nomination challenge for a $500 cash prize by receiving more than 600 nominations for favorite teachers in 24 hours. Special thanks to DeVere Insulation for sponsoring this contest again this year. Five other schools—Annapolis MS, Glen Burnie Evening HS, Glendale ES, Linthicum ES, and Germantown ES—were also randomly selected to win cash prizes from our Thank-A-Gram drawings.

In her Then & Now video , Southern HS alum Iris Crankfield shares how a negative experience in one of her high school classrooms fueled a passion for writing and teaching that  has allowed her to inspire a new generation of change makers.

Now, as an English teacher at South River High School, Iris helps her students see that they, too, have a voice and it deserves to be heard.

Wings Across America, a Buffalo Wild Wings franchisee with 14 restaurants in the Maryland market since 2005, became a partner two years ago and their support continues to grow! In addition to supporting our schools through 21^st Century Education Foundation events such as the Educator Expo and the Spelling Bee, they also sponsored the first intramural AACPS employee bowling league this past winter.

This sponsorship, which offset the bowling costs for participants and included a celebratory happy hour, gave Central Office employees the opportunity to participate in a fun, team-building after-hours event. If you are interested in becoming involved as a business partner or sponsor, please contact Carol Ann McCurdy, Director of Partnerships, Development & Marketing at cmccurdy@aacps.org.

Volunteer of the Year, Bruce Morgenstern shares his Faces of AACPS story.

Join us for the 3rd annual Anchors Aweigh Spring Cruise Fundraiser for the 21st Century Education Foundation. This event sells out every year, so get your tickets or consider a sponsorship today @ www.aacps.org/anchorsaweigh.

Have you ever wondered about the people who serve our students everyday outside of the classroom? PDM takes a look behind the scenes to learn more about the many employees that make our students’ successes possible. Find out more.

If you have questions about this newsletter or know someone who would like to receive this quarterly alert, please contact Jennifer Halstead at jhalstead@aacps.org.