FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE      NR #12, 8/11/00

Date:  August 11, 2000
Contact: Irene Cromer
(703) 791-8720

 Kathleen S. Kunze, supervisor of adult, vocational and career education for Prince William County Public Schools, has been named Outstanding Career and Technical Educator of the Year by the Virginia Association of Teachers of Family and Consumer Sciences.  Kunze was selected for the award based on her outstanding contributions to education at the state, regional and local level. The award was presented on August 5 at the Association’s annual conference in Roanoke.  

Kunze, who has been in her current position since 1996, supervises eighty-eight curriculum areas at the middle and high school levels, including agriculture, business, marketing, health, technology education, the School of Practical Nursing, and work and family studies. She works with nearly 200 Prince William County teachers to review and update the curriculum and assess and implement staff development activities. 

Kunze played a significant role in the development of several high school specialty programs, including the Allied Health Program located at Osbourn Park High School, and she worked closely with the school division’s construction department to redesign classrooms to maximize use of space and resources.  She participated in the design of the Forest Park High School Information Systems Technology Specialty Program and in the renovation of 
engineering, drafting, and cosmetology labs in other high schools and middle schools.

During her tenure, Kunze has written or co-authored successful program proposals that will bring nearly two million dollars in federal and state grant money to schools over three years in support of business and school partnership programs. These include $70,000 to establish a High Tech Manufacturing Lab at Gar-Field High School, a School to Work Grant of $1.2 million, and a $219,000 grant for an Independent Learning Center at Potomac High School.

Kunze serves on the Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board as an alternate for the Superintendent of Schools and is a member of numerous professional associations in the career and vocational education field.  She is also on the Tech Prep Steering Committee of Northern Virginia Community College.

Formerly a head nurse at Potomac Hospital, Kunze joined Prince William County Public Schools in 1977 as an instructor of Practical Nursing at Gar-Field High School. She became a career counselor at Potomac High School in 1985 and from 1989 to 1996 served as director of guidance at the school. 

After earning her master’s degree in adult and continuing education at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1981, Kunze received a second master’s degree in 1986 in guidance and counseling from Virginia Tech.  She was awarded a doctorate in counseling and pupil personnel services, also at Virginia Tech, in 1992.