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2005 FinalistsTwenty teachers named as finalists for the 10th Anniversary of the Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards Twenty of metropolitan Chicago’s finest teachers who work with children between birth and age eight have been selected as finalists for the 2005 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 throughout the Chicago area. The process began last fall when a nomination committee of more than 50 outstanding educators, early childhood specialists, and administrators nominated a select group of outstanding teachers for consideration. The 20 finalists were then chosen by the selection committee of noted early childhood experts from a pool of nominees, all of whom are full-time teachers from a three-county Chicago metropolitan area (Cook, Lake, and DuPage counties). The Kohl McCormick Awards will be selecting five winners from among these 20 finalists. They will be honored at the 2005 Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards luncheon ceremony on Tuesday, June 14, at the Westin River North in Chicago. Each of the five winners will receive:
Winners are 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. Now celebrating its tenth anniversary, the Kohl McCormick Awards program has become a model for recognition of outstanding early childhood educators. “This awards program exists to remind everyone – parents, teachers, and other professionals – of the critical importance of quality early childhood education,” observes Gail Sikevitz, executive director of the Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards. “These finalists embody the finest characteristics of quality teaching – respect for children and their families, excellent teaching practices, and leadership within the field. We hope that the awards program validates their efforts and the work of all outstanding educators.” The Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards program is
sponsored by the McCormick Tribune Foundation and the Dolores Kohl
Education Foundation. Since 1993, the education program of the
McCormick Tribune Foundation has committed more than $50 million
in resources and expertise to improve the quality of early childhood
education in the metropolitan Chicago area. Finalists – 2005 Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards Michelle Barton Janet Caluris Ekin Dilber Carol Engberg Tracy L. Fisher Belinda Gold Wanda Johnson Jenna Kalkman Maeve Kanaley Bonnie Kisielewski Edwina Klein Rosemary
Mangosing Zahideé Marcano Debbie Oplt Maria Rodriguez Marjorie Rogasner Abida Sayed Astrid
Schüler Dallen Solis Aurelia Spurlark |
