June 2, 2023 -- The CH-UH City School District has named its Teacher of the Year, Helping Hand of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Administrator of the Year for 2022-2023. We are proud to announce the following winners:
Teacher of the Year
Lisa Stewart - Kindergarten Teacher, Canterbury Elementary School
Helping Hand of the Year
Freddie Crawford - Head Custodian, Noble Elementary School
Rookie of the Year
Kate Regas - Intervention Specialist, Boulevard Elementary School
Administrators of the Year (tie)
Patrick Carpenter - Principal, Noble Elementary School
Sue Pardee - Supervisor, Federal Programs & Grants
These five winners each received a Dell Chromebook courtesy of CDW-G and registration for a professional development conference in the U.S. within a one-year timeframe.
All ceremony photos Selection processThe
building winners were chosen by their school colleagues earlier this spring. The
finalists for Teacher of the Year, Helping Hand of the Year, and Rookie of the Year were then selected through district-wide voting, and the Administrator of the Year finalists were selected by the Superintendent's Cabinet. The Teacher, Helping Hand, and Rookie of the Year overall winners were selected following panel interviews. The Administrator of the Year winner was selected by the Superintendent's Cabinet.
Staff Awards Ceremony
At the ceremony on June 1, the District also recognized several other groups of dedicated employees, including this year’s 14 retirees:
- Valerie Arnett, Fourth Grade Teacher at Roxboro Elementary School (24 years)
- John Boris, Intervention Specialist at Heights High School (15 years)
- Robin Collins, Special Education Paraprofessional at Roxboro Middle School (11 years)
- Brenda Gadowski, Administrative Assistant at Canterbury Elementary School (30 years)
- Kim Hansen, Physical Education Teacher at Oxford & Canterbury elementary schools (13 years)
- Victoria Horn, Special Education Paraprofessional at Fairfax Elementary School (10 years)
- Dr. Alisa Lawson-McKinnie, Interim Administrative Principal at Heights High School (10 years)
- Paula Lucas, Occupational Therapist at Gearity Preschool (30 years)
- Sue Pardee, Supervisor of Federal Programs and Grants (22 years)
- Reeva Perse, Speech Language Pathologist at Gearity Elementary School (24 years)
- Patricia C. Smith, Intervention Specialist at Noble Elementary School (30 years)
- Roseann Varcelli, School Nurse at Heights High School and the Delisle Options Center (19 years)
- Roberta Warren, Security Monitor at Canterbury Elementary School (38.5 years)
- Joan Webster, Staff Assistant in the Student Services Department (24 years)
The District recognized the 11 teachers who earned tenure, or Continuing Contract status, during the 2022-2023 school year:
- Cynthia Booker, Media and TV Productions Teacher at Heights High School
- Katherine Buettner, Science Teacher at Heights High School
- Emily Dralle, Fifth Grade Teacher at Gearity Elementary
- Kaylie Ferreri, Intervention Specialist at Gearity Elementary
- Lynne Gaines, Intervention Specialist at Oxford Elementary
- Lisa Husain, Gifted Teacher for the District
- Taniesha Jackson, Speech Language Pathologist for the District
- Nicholas Marzuola, Music Teacher at Heights High School
- Laura Mendez, American Sign Language Teacher at Heights High School
- Nicole Nalepa, Fourth Grade Teacher at Noble Elementary
- Raechal Triscaro, Second Grade Teacher at Boulevard Elementary
Tiger Nation Awards were given to those who presented at a state or national conference or who were published in a national journal during the 2022-2023 school year. Those 13 recipients are:
- Dr. Christina Bauer, Director of Curriculum & Instruction, co-presented “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Empowering Teachers as Tech Coaches” at the Future of Education Technology Conference.
- Joyce Bukovac, Math Instructional Specialist for the District, co-presented “Canva & Google - Did We Just Become Best Friends?” and “Controlling Google Drive & Gmail-For Your Students & You!” at the ITIP Ohio Google Summit in May.
- Desiree Caliguire, Heights High School Social Studies Teacher, presented at the Equity & Excellence in Education Stakeholder Circle of the Urban League of Greater Cleveland in September.
- Dr. Felisha Gould, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, co-presented “Discipline & Students with a Disability: Understanding the Authority of School Personnel” at the Fall and Spring Conferences of the Ohio Association of Administrators of State & Federal Education Programs. She also co-presented “Equity Beyond Black & White” at the Spring OAASFEP.
- Karen Liddell-Anderson, Director of Student Services, co-presented “Discipline & Students with a Disability: Understanding the Authority of School Personnel” at the Fall and Spring Conferences of the Ohio Association of Administrators of State & Federal Education Programs. She also co-presented “Equity Beyond Black & White” at the Spring OAASFEP.
- Rebecca McDonald, Instructional Specialist, co-presented “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Empowering Teachers as Tech Coaches” at the Future of Education Technology Conference. She also co-presented “Canva & Google - Did We Just Become Best Friends?”, “Controlling Google Drive & Gmail-For Your Students & You!”, and “Getting Google-y in K-2 Reading” at the ITIP Ohio Google Summit in May.
- Kay Milkie, Monticello Middle School Instructional Coach and Tech Coach, co-presented “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Empowering Teachers as Tech Coaches” at the Future of Education Technology Conference.
- Jazmine Monroe, Noble Elementary School First Grade Teacher and Tech Coach, co-presented “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Empowering Teachers as Tech Coaches” at the Future of Education Technology Conference. She also co-presented “Getting Google-y in K-2 Reading” and “Tired of Repeating Yourself? Try Using GIFs as Directions!” at the ITIP Ohio Google Summit in May.
- Eric Soltis, Assistant Treasurer, presented “Module 2: School District Management - Relationship with the
Board of Education and Superintendent” at the Ohio Association of School Business Officials’ Essentials of Leadership last July and this May. He also presented “Best Practices in Financial Management” at the OASBO Mentoring Presentation in February. - Robert Swaggard, Director of College & Career Readiness, presented “Using Federal GEAR UP Grant to Increase College Readiness” at the Spring OAASFEP.
- Quinci Teer, Roxboro Middle School Grade 8 Science Teacher, presented “Students as Leaders, Educators of Color, and School Transformation, Roundtable Session” at the American Education Research Association Conference in April.
- Shawn Washington, Heights High School AVID & History Teacher, will present “Academic Language and Literacy” at the AVID National Summer Institute in June.
- Nicole Zubik, Heights High School Science Teacher, co-presented “Canva & Google - Did We Just Become Best Friends?” and “Tired of Repeating Yourself? Try Using GIFs as Directions!” at the ITIP Ohio Google Summit in May.
In the videos below, colleagues and students of the 17 award finalists share their thoughts on what makes them so outstanding:
Full awards ceremony video: