The Linda Brown Fellows Award was created to promote and recognize excellence in teaching. This honor is presented to teachers who set their personal expectations high and make learning exciting every day. This year, five recipients were selected from a field of 69 nominations for 25 teachers. The award winners each received $2,000 to be used for educational purposes and an additional $500 for personal use.
Leslie Fansler, North Tahoe Middle School
A colleague wrote, She is dedicated to helping Latina women graduate from high school. She brought a group of young women to San Francisco one weekend for a cultural experience, and at a later time she took them to a college day at Cal State Sacramento. She has modeled E.L.D. Lessons, and trained the staff in implementation strategies. She is well respected among her peers, and her message and coaching are well received by all. She promotes Latino parent participation in school wide activities by translating at events.
Heather Hardy, Tahoe Lake Elementary
In Heathers nomination, one person commented, When she identifies a need for a program she creates it. She developed an after school cross country ski program for our school. Over the years the program has been so successful that this past year it serviced over 140 community students at the Tahoe Cross Country Ski Center. She also runs an early bird math and reading program to support her students that need remedial assistance. Her colleague continued, Entering her classroom is an incredibly rich experience. She is one of the most talented teachers in the arts that I have ever observed.
Larry Leatherman, Truckee High SchoolÂ
A student enthusiastically submitted a nomination for Larry Leatherman: before I start he wrote, let me mention that prior to this class, I could not tolerate history. The reading requirement is one chapter a night, which translates into about one and half hours of intense and factual reading. The book is indescribably dull. This is where he comes in. He would show us clips from movies, assign fun but productive projects, read us speeches and quotes from former Americans, play games to help us learn the material, all while providing some comic relief, which was a necessity for this class. He held study sessions at his house twice a week in hope of our success in passing the AP test. He is an inspiration and role model to his students. He brings out the best in everyone and can always find something good in something bad.
Tara House, Kings Beach ElementaryÂ
During this past spring break teacher Tara house flew to Guadalajara, Mexico to deliver 400 pounds of belongings for a family who had to move unexpectedly and had to leave their possessions behind. She also took care of all of the loose ends for the family such as collecting mail, cleaning out their apartment, selling their car and getting the right paperwork together so that their kids could enroll in school in Mexico. Some of the many projects that go on in her classroom include weekly cooking, glazed and fired handprints, memory books, fathers day t-shirts silk-screened with the students art work and an end of the year sleep-over at school. She has been known to make a quilt for each of the students in her class featuring their seasonal artwork. She presents at conferences sharing her knowledge of best two-way immersion practices.
Kilty Highfill, Glenshire Elementary
In the nominations, one parent wrote that this teacher builds a community in her classroom. She stated that one of the things she wanted for her children is that they would be lifelong learners and become good citizens. She felt that this teacher was definitely contributing to her goals for her children. Lessons in this classroom are presented in a variety of ways to reach every type of learner and to make learning fun. Math lessons have been creatively taught with the use of a hot cocoa stand and a hot dog stand. The kids had to draw pictures of the items they wanted from the stand and then add up the amount of their purchase. The students paid for their purchase with paper money. She is considered a master at assessing where children are, where they need to be and then how to get them there.
2005-2006 Nominees
- Candy Blesse, Truckee Elementary
- Danny Brolliar, Tahoe Lake Elementary
- Judy Cwikla, Truckee Elementary
- Mike Franey, Truckee Elementary
- Karyn Freested, North Tahoe High School
- Linda Glynn, Truckee Elementary
- Emily Hart, Kings Beach Elementary
- Sherry Hollomon, Truckee Elementary
- Kathy Holmes, Truckee Elementary
- Tom LeFevers, North Tahoe High School
- Lisa Melin, Tahoe Lake Elementary
- Julie Miescke, Kings Beach Elementary
- Dean Nordby, North Tahoe High School
- Karen Pilaar, Glenshire Elementary
- Jan Potter, Kings Beach Elementary
- Michael Pyle, Truckee High School
- Meara Retallack, Truckee High School
- Nancy Shaeffer, Truckee Elementary
- Kim Warren, Truckee Elementary
- Neysa Williams, Alder Creek Middle School