Celebrate Excellence 2009

For more than 90 years, the Hamilton County Educational Service Center (HCESC) has provided the public school districts in Hamilton County with numerous services related to special education, as well as professional development for teachers and administrators. HCESC focuses on innovation by bringing together educational best practices and leading-edge knowledge to serve 150,000 students and 10,000 educators in Southwest Ohio. The staff of nearly 500 education professionals emphasizes quality processes and proven implementation experience with a constant focus on what’s best for children. The result is better use of resources, better schools, better teaching, better learning, better students.

As the non-profit fundraising arm of the HCESC, the Hamilton County Education Foundation provides an annual scholarship to a teacher returning to school at the University of Cincinnati as well as a teacher returning to Xavier University for their Masters in Special Education. These scholarships are directly addressing the national shortage of special education teachers – in a sense the Foundation is “growing its own.”

The annual “Celebrate Excellence” event is the Foundation’s main fundraiser recognizing the “Educators of the Year” from more than twenty public school districts in Hamilton County. The event is unique in that it brings K-12 education, university, business and civic leaders together to pay tribute to this impressive group. Anthony Munoz, president of his own education foundation, (http://www.munozfoundation.org/) serves as Master of Ceremonies. The 2009 keynote address was presented by the Ohio Department of Education’s Senior Associate Superintendent for Educational Programs Marilyn Troyer.

The Foundation – like our business, culture and arts communities – hopes that by providing scholarships and recognizing our local educators, more of them will choose to live and work here. Characteristically uncomfortable in the spotlight – not uncommon for those who are called to their profession - educators focus on the success of their kids. Celebrate Excellence honors these dedicated individuals who daily serve as parent, priest, friend, advisor, protector, confidant, and teacher to our children. Their superintendent gives them the day off. They get to hang with Anthony Munoz. And best of all, they get to hear what their nominator says about them.
· “She has stretched the boundaries of education, teaching us not only how to sing but to be good people.”
· “The words ‘no’, ‘impossible,’ and ‘I don’t have time’ do not exist in his vocabulary.”
· “I plan on majoring in education, and she is the teacher that I am trying to model myself after.”

There is no greater praise for those who answer the call.

- Submitted by Robyn Carey Allgeyer

Veterans in our midst

To too many of us, Veterans Day is just another day off from school or from work. Or a day when our trash isn’t picked up or our mail isn’t delivered. Far too many of us give little thought to the sacrifices made by the men and women who have served in the armed forces, especially those who served abroad during times of conflict. The families of those veterans who didn’t come home or that came home with visible or invisible scars made sacrifices that often went unnoticed as well.

So, if many of us do not grasp the importance of our veterans’ contributions to our country, how can we effectively pass the story along to our children? How can we help them understand the true cost to the individual yet see how their collective dedication and selflessness has ensured our country’s survival?

Glen Grundei, now a retired teacher from Winton Woods City Schools, saw the need to teach his students more about World War II than the few paragraphs included in their history textbook. He wanted them to know more than some dates and names and locations. He wanted them to know something about the human side of the war. He wanted them to hear the stories, see the faces, and read the letters. So he built the Hall of Heroes in Winton Woods Primary North School .

While still teaching at Winton Woods Primary North, Mr. Grundei began collecting donations of artifacts from World War II veterans to become part of a permanent exhibit that could be used to help his students better understand the global conflict by learning more about the individuals who experienced it. Even after his retirement a few years ago, Mr. Grundei continued to maintain and connect the precious collection of personal items in the Hall of Heroes with students at Winton Woods Primary North and the larger community beyond.

You can visit the Hall of Heroes virtually (http://www.cetconnect.org/Education/Education.aspx) to see and learn more about the many veterans who have shared a bit of themselves and their story so that future generations would better understand our history.

Thank You!

- Diane

New Study Shows PBS Educational Content and Interactive Games Increase Literacy

There was a new study conducted by researchers at the Education Development Center, Inc. and SRI International which shows that preschoolers who participated in "media-rich literary curriculum" from the popular PBS Kids programs Super Why!, Between the Lions, and Sesame Street were better prepared for their first year of school than those children who did not participate. This is proof positive of the educational impact of PBS programming and interactive media on children, making them better able to find success in the classroom at the earliest, most formative stage of learning.

Here is an excerpt from this important announcement from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB):

“This study underscores the important and unprecedented work that the Ready To Learn initiative has accomplished by teaching these children the skills they will need to succeed in life,” said Pat Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). CPB congratulates the producers, the teachers and caregivers, station staff and their community partners who have made the Ready To Learn initiative the success that it is today.”

Read more from the announcement here, or to find out more about the study, visit the Center for Children and Technology website @ http://cct.edc.org/ready_to_learn.asp

You can introduce children, especially 2-8-year-olds, to the content and games observed in this study at the websites for Super Why!, Between the Lions, and Sesame Street so they can be Ready to Learn in the classroom.

C is for Cookie!

“C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me,
C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me,
C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me.
Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C.”

Many years ago, I remember watching opera singer Marilyn Horne, dressed as Cleopatra, singing this song on a Sesame Street episode. That little jingle immediately implanted itself deep in my brain and periodically resurfaced, resulting in my aesthetically-lacking but heartfelt warbling ode to cookies. When my daughters were preschoolers and I again could indulge in guilt-free viewing of Sesame Street, I was ecstatic when the “C is for Cookie” segment came along and I could join in with gusto. My daughters, now teenagers, roll their eyes for dramatic effect when I burst into song about cookies but I don’t let that stop me.

Believe it or not, Sesame Street celebrates it’s 40th anniversary on Nov. 10. 40 years of making learning fun for preschoolers and their parents. 40 years of demonstrating the educational power of television. 40 years of feeling at home in an ethnically-diverse urban neighborhood.

Join in and wallow in the fun of celebrating 40 years of Sesame Street.

- Diane