Area educators honored

Fifteen central Virginia educators were recognized this month as some of the best in their field with the 2011 REB Awards for Teaching Excellence.

The Community Foundation program, in its 24th year, recognizes and celebrates outstanding classroom teachers from the area's public schools. REB Awards present cash grants to teachers to enable them to pursue postgraduate studies, professional training or world travel.

The finalists are among the best in their field. These instructors demonstrate a passion for teaching while continuing to inspire the hearts and minds of their students.

In addition to being educators, the selected finalists are also mentors, coaches and encouragers to their students.

The 2011 winners were announced at the Library of Virginia. Selected from 127 teachers nominated by students, parents and colleagues, 15 winners and 17 finalists were awarded a total of $163,150.

The finalists not chosen for a professional development grant will receive a $750 unrestricted cash grant in recognition of their achievements in the classroom.

Jamie Bird

Cosby High School, $12,000

Bird founded the Titan News Network, which has transformed the Cosby High School newsletter from a flat paper publication into a community-wide, interactive, virtual news source. She will hone her broadcast-journalism skills with an REB Award of $12,000 that will take her to New Zealand to participate in Adventure Film School, where she will take part in intensive filmmaking experiences and editing workshops.

Samara Booker

Clark Springs Elementary School, $9,600

Booker uses creative solutions to connect her students to the math concepts she teaches, including smart-board activities, flash cards, games and songs. As a result, her students are confident in their knowledge of the material and their ability to succeed. Her REB Award will take her to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics conferences in Philadelphia and the Kagan Summer Academy in Orlando, Fla.

Beverly Brown

Echo Lake Elementary School, $8,800

One of Brown's greatest personal passions is providing positive experiences for America's veterans. Each year, her students interview veterans and their families and honor them by reading their essays in a classroom ceremony. With her award, she will honor veterans and visit the sites where they served, including the beaches of Normandy, London for Armistice Day and the annual veterans conference in Washington.

Mary Bruner

Mills Godwin High School, $6,000

Bruner has a love affair with American literature, and it shows in the enthusiasm she brings to her classroom every day, quoting Henry David Thoreau and Mark Twain often. She will use her award to embark on a personal survey of American literature, with visits to the homes of Twain, Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson. She will also attend Literary Week at the Chautauqua Institution in New York and South Carolina's Piccolo Spoleto Literary and Theatre Festivals.

Christopher Calfee

Swift Creek Middle School, $9,000

Calfee keeps a bulletin board of race numbers in his classroom to remind his students that success comes through practice and hard work. He will be able to add one more race number to that bulletin board because, through his REB award, he will travel to New Zealand to participate in an ultra-marathon. At the same time, Calfee will have a chance to visit some of the sites featured in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, feeding his love of literature and adventure.

Jacqueline Coffey

Ettrick Elementary School, $12,000

Coffey uses her experiences every day at Ettrick Elementary School to empower her students to find the "just right books" and their parents to read to them nightly. She will use her award to explore her love of reading and hone her teaching skills as she travels to Australia and New Zealand to attend a literacy conference and observe primary classrooms in which the concept of balanced literacy is implemented.

C. Randy Early

James River High School, $12,000

Early is making his mark in the world of education, teaching students with moderate intellectual disabilities. His combination of skills-based learning with real world experiences, a dose of creativity and admiration for his students leads to success time and time again. His award allows him to travel in the U.S. and abroad to observe how individuals with intellectual disabilities are educated and incorporated into and supported in other communities.

Vincent Hughes

Tomahawk Creek Middle School, $11,000

Hughes provides his eighth-grade science classes with hands-on learning opportunities, serves as a mentor to his peers and chairs the science department. He also runs aerospace/rocket clubs at two Chesterfield County middle schools and works as a Girls in Engineering, Mathematics and Science instructor to motivate girls in the disciplines. With his award, he will expand his understanding of science, technology, engineering and math by attending the Maker Faire in San Francisco and the Advance Space Academy at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala.

Melissa Lehman

Laurel Meadow Elementary School, $12,000

Lehman's style includes hands-on experimentation, movement and small-group work, all of which provide her students with the foundations they need to be successful at school. She will use her award to visit outdoor classrooms in Massachusetts and Texas and the ultimate outdoor classroom, the Galapagos Islands. Eventually, she will develop an outdoor learning environment at Laurel Meadow.

Shannon Majeski

Bon Air Elementary School, $10,000

Parents praise Majeski's communication skills, organization, sincere interest in her lessons and extra time spent outside of the classroom. But it is her love and respect for her students that sets her apart. Majeski will use her award to explore her passion for gardening and nature by attending the World Horticultural Expo in the Netherlands and taking coursework at the Occidental Arts Ecology Center in California.

Danica Millner

Thomas Jefferson High School, $12,000

Millner's chemistry classes take her students way beyond the periodic table. Her latest creative teaching tool is biofuels. Millner is teaching her students how creating fuels from renewable resources can simultaneously, positively affect our environment and our economy. Millner will use her award to travel to Hawaii to see firsthand the biofuel industry in practice through a visit to Pacific Biodiesel. She will get the full experience as she travels around Maui in an automobile that operates on 100 percent biodiesel fuel. A portion of her award will be used to pursue a master's in educational leadership.

Jamie Mullenaux

Mechanicsville Elementary School, $8,000

In her all-girls class, Mullenaux encourages her students to use 21st century skills as they become self-directed learners. For example, she uses video cameras to teach geometry, weather and erosion, and students use them to produce news broadcasts for independent book projects. Her award will take her on two unique learning opportunities of her own — first to the Galapagos Islands to build on her scientific understanding of ecosystems and oceanography; second to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education Conference, where she will enhance her instructional practices.

Susan Nagel

Clover Hill Elementary School, $8,000

After 35 years in the classroom, Nagel makes each day fresh and exciting for her students. She uses her personal passions to model how rewarding and fun learning can be. She will use her to explore these interests: scuba diving in the Red Sea, experiencing two plays on Broadway and touring Egypt.

Manuel Rios

Midlothian Middle School, $11,000

Rios' civics class is not a walk in the park, but the students keep coming back for more. Any school program sponsored by Rios is at capacity. Rios will use his to experience firsthand the geography, history and culture of Turkey and Greece. While on his travels, he plans to network with other humanities teachers in Istanbul, Turkey, and Athens, Greece, to gain a greater global perspective.

Mary Williams

Midlothian Middle School, $9,000

Williams uses the Iditarod as the backdrop for problem-based lessons in math. She uses the Iditarod course and its 27 stops, the speed of the mushers and even the pounds of dog food needed to engage her students in a lively and interactive math experience. She will have her own experience as she travels to Alaska to attend the Iditarod Educators conference and then become a part of the race itself through the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Tour.