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2006 FinalistsTwenty-two Educators Named as Finalists for the CHICAGO -- Twenty-two of metropolitan Chicago's finest educators who work with children between birth and age eight have been selected as finalists for the 2006 Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards. The finalists exemplify the best practices of quality early childhood teaching: dedication, innovation, leadership, respect for children and their families, and commitment to professional growth. They work in preschools, home day care centers, childcare centers, Head Start programs, State Prekindergartens, and kindergarten through third-grade classrooms, in public, private, and parochial schools in Cook County. The process began last fall when an esteemed committee
of leaders in the
field of early childhood education conducted site visits and selected
22
outstanding teachers as finalists for this award. Five of these outstanding
educators will be chosen to represent the best of
the field, following a final application process that includes additional
site visits and interviews by members of the Kohl McCormick Academy
of
Outstanding Educators. Those five representatives will be announced
in Each of the five representatives will receive: Each is also inducted into the Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators. While there are numerous teaching awards in the United States, the Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards is the first awards program to formally recognize the contributions of teachers working with children from infancy through third grade. In its eleventh year, the Kohl McCormick Awards program has become a model for recognition of outstanding early childhood educators. "Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards are a pivotal tool for raising awareness of the quality education and experience our youngest children need and deserve," says Sara Slaughter, education program director of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. "The McCormick Tribune Foundation congratulates the finalists for creating environments that foster quality learning opportunities that prepare Chicagoland's children for a lifetime of success." "These finalists embody the finest characteristics
of quality teaching -
respect for children and their families, excellent teaching practices,
and
leadership within the field," observes Gail Sikevitz, executive
director of
the Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards. "We hope
that the The Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards program is sponsored by the McCormick Tribune Foundation and the Dolores Kohl Education Foundation. Since 2000, the education program of the McCormick Tribune Foundation has committed more than $40 million in resources and expertise to improve the quality of early childhood education in the metropolitan Chicago area. Finalists - 2006 Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards Patricia Bess Phyllis Black Martina Carter Catherine Dalber Kathy Eslinger Marla Garstka Mary Hanson Maeve Kanaley Nancy
Kuglin Kelly Lofdahl Rosa Lopez Yolonda McGrady Karla McReynolds Shawn Oehlberg Ziomara Perez Denise Pinkston Hertha Ramirez Pamela Staples Carol Switalla Carl Wanzung Anissia Washington Arlene Wells |
