Sally M. Graham Martin, business education teacher at Brentsville District Middle/High School, and Karen Mirkovich, who teaches first grade at Marshall Elementary School, have been selected as finalists for the 2000-2001 Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award. The two were selected by a committee of teachers, parents, school division classified personnel and central office administrators from among sixteen outstanding educators nominated by their school communities. 

Other nominees for the award, their curriculum area or grade, and their schools include: Laura Altholz, physical education, Featherstone and Triangle elementary schools; James Dean Bish, United States and Virginia history and twentieth century history, Woodbridge High School; Robin L. Blaemire, speech and language pathologist, Kerrydale Elementary School; Maureen Ellis, pre-IB world studies 9, IB anthropology 11-12, Stonewall Jackson High School; Althena Harris, fifth grade, Nokesville Elementary School; and Mary Devlin Hayden, seventh grade language arts, Graham Park Middle School.

Also, Jean C. Lusardi, chemistry, Woodbridge High School; Donald C. Maeyer, electronic technology, electronics II, Woodbridge High School; Betsey Nalevanko, eighth grade language arts and reading/regular education and inclusion special education, Beville Middle School; Elizabeth Pitts, Latin, Forest Park High School; Andrea Sparks-Brown, biology, Woodbridge High School; Julie J. Steelman, first grade, West Gate Elementary School; Donna Stofko, third grade, Rockledge Elementary School; and Michelle P. Wentzel, ED self-contained resource, Stonewall Jackson High School.

The Washington Post will announce the winner of the award in mid-April. The winner will also be recognized as the Prince William County Teacher of the Year and the school division’s nominee for the 2002 Virginia Teacher of the Year.

“Sally Martin creates lessons with purpose and coordinates meaningful co-curricular projects for her students,” her nominators say.  In her desktop publishing/multimedia presentations class, Martin requires students to create business cards and brochures for actual businesses.  Martin was selected as Virginia’s 2000 Future Business Leaders of America Advisor of the Year.  In 1999, she was named the Virginia Business Education Association Great Ideas Winner for the Furbie Project she designed and implemented in her classroom using the Internet. According to her nominators, seeing a young person discover his or her potential is Sally Martin’s greatest reward as a teacher. 

Taryn Kiesnowski, a former student who is now a business teacher at Brentsville, says, “Mrs. Martin created a spark that ran inside me like wildfire….I knew then that I wanted to teach high school business students all of the things that I had learned from Mrs. Martin.”

A graduate of Longwood College in Farmville, Virginia, with a Bachelor of Science in business education, Martin earned a Master’s of Education in education with an emphasis in social foundations from the University of Virginia.
 

Karen Mirkovich
First Grade
Thurgood Marshall Elementary School

In 1999, Karen Mirkovich became one of the first five Prince William County teachers to achieve National Board Certification.  She has since accepted an invitation to become a trained National Board assessor, a position that allows her to mentor current National Board candidates.   A former member of the school division’s Instructional Support Team, Mirkovich was an active participant in the development and implementation of an elementary school science program, the science lead teacher program, and the elementary science coordinator handbook. 

“Mrs. Mirkovich is, without exception, the most dedicated individual I have ever know,” says a curriculum supervisor. At Marshall, she was instrumental in establishing “Prime Time Reading Night,” which brings several hundred parents and students together for an evening of reading.  She also sponsors an author’s night, where every child reads aloud from his own book. 

A graduate of the University of Portland, Oregon, with a Bachelor of Music Education, Mirkovich earned a Master’s of Science degree in curriculum design and instruction from the University of Southern California.  She earned National Board Certification as an Early Childhood Generalist in 1999.

“As staff and students enter Featherstone on Monday morning, hearing Miss A’s ‘music’ in the hallways, everyone’s step is a bit lighter and happier…it’s PE day!” says the school’s principal, Linda Dockery. When she arrived at Featherstone seven years ago, the students’ upper body fitness scores were minimal.  “Laura took the challenge and, using PVC pipe between chairs, created multiple stations to facilitate upper body exercises, resulting in fitness scores above 93 percent.” Students consistently rank in the top ten percent of the county in their level of wellness and physical fitness. 

Miss A serves on the Building Advisory committee, tutors at-risk children during her planning time, and is a building representative to the Principal’s Advisory Committee.  “Laura looks for ways to assist students in their school life.  Her professional manner and approach to her job serves as a role model for her students, says one administrator.” 

James Dean Bish
History Teacher
Woodbridge High School

“Mr. Bish has a great love of history and teaching that comes across to his students,” says a colleague.  “When he teaches his lessons, the students sense that he is someone who knows his ‘stuff’ and wants to share it with them.” Mr. Bish has been the sponsor of the Norsemen Service Club at Woodbridge since 1987, organizing projects such as the school blood drive.  The club received a Good Service award from the Prince William County Agency for Persons with Disabilities in 1996. 

Mr. Bish helped develop and write the Twentieth Century History curriculum for Prince William County and has twice served on the school division’s textbook adoption committee.  For the past three years, he has taught an eighteen-hour faculty seminar that he developed on “The History of Our Multicultural Society.”  In 1999, Mr. Bish was voted as the Educator of the Year by his colleagues and also named as the American History Teacher of the Year by the Daughters of the American Revolution Bill of Rights Chapter.

Robin L. Blaemire
Speech and Language Pathologist
Kerrydale Elementary School

With a caseload of more than fifty students from preschool through fifth grade, Robin Blaemire must use a multitude of instructional strategies each day.  Her students have a wide range of disabilities, including speech and language impairment, but also attention deficit, emotional disturbance, autism, selective mutism and orthopedic impairment.  She must often change quickly from one grade and level and type of impairment to another, because her student groups usually change every thirty minutes.  Mrs. Blaemire teaches everything from correct pronunciation to appropriate social use of language. 

Eager to share her expertise with others, she has acted as a clinical fellowship supervisor to speech pathologists entering the field.  According to a colleague at Kerrydale, “Robin is more than just a teacher of those with speech and language concerns.  During Exceptional Children’s Week each year, she volunteers to come into the first grade classrooms to teach sign language,” and at Thanksgiving, she visits classrooms to share a story and her own family’s ties to Plymouth Rock.”

Maureen Ellis
PIB World Studies and IB Anthropology
Stonewall Jackson High School

When the IB program was introduced to the community, it was a daily struggle to convince colleagues, students and parents of its merits.  Ms. Ellis spent countless hours educating everyone who would listen about the value of this program.  Her persistence paid off:  Stonewall Jackson has the largest IB Anthropology program in the country, its enrollment tripled in size this year, and her students scored above the world mean on the exam.

Her history lessons are never boring: she makes them come alive, says a student.  Students waltz in full costume at the Palace of Versailles, and play the roles of great men and women who conquered and ruled vast empires. 


Mrs. Ellis has touched the lives of many students, her nominators say.  She takes on the role of guidance counselor, mother, nurse, and always, friend.  She has prevented students from attempting suicide and abusing illegal substances and has even assisted kids in legal trouble.  She is endearingly referred to as “Mighty Mo,” because the students adore her.

Althena Harris
Fifth Grade Teacher
Nokesville Elementary School

Althena Harris is considered an icon of the Nokesville community, having taught generations of families during her more than twenty-six years of teaching.  One former student recalls how Miss Harris always made learning fun.  She has been the leader and organizer of the annual fifth grade camping trip at Prince William Forest Park for more than 20 years. 

According to colleagues, “She is a voice of reason and reality when children are not working to their potential.  She is a voice of compassion when children are working as hard as they can and they have no one else to help them.  She is the voice of praise when children find success, share their talents and demonstrate a skill.”  After school, she can be found listening to them read, or solve math problems or understand difficult concepts.  Children are drawn to her warm personality, always seeking her out during recess for a hug or kind words of encouragement.

Mary Devlin Hayden
Seventh Grade Language Arts Teacher
Graham Park Middle School

As chairman of Graham Park’s language arts department, Mary Hayden gives all her teachers what she calls Balanced Literacy training.  The course provides all kinds of strategies for making language arts more palatable to squirming middle schoolers.

Within her classroom, Ms. Hayden has introduced Literature Circles in which students undertake different roles including “discussion leader,” “researcher,” and “graphic artist,” among others.  Students of different abilities rotate into different roles for each new piece of literature.  She says the aim of Literature Circles is to put itself out of business.  Each student learns all the roles and all the necessary elements to studying literature.

In another activity, entitled “Save the Last Word for Me,” students read articles and respond to them on large sheets of paper posted around the classroom.  Students are encouraged to write thoughts on the paper, and their thoughts are later read and discussed.

Jean C. Lusardi
Chemistry Teacher
Woodbridge High School

 Jean Lusardi teaches her students to find chemistry all around them, her nominators say.  Topics discussed in her class include “Why Does Popcorn Pop?” “How is Perfume Made?” and “How is Denim Made?” all topics near and dear to hearts of her teenage students. A student writes, “Before having Ms. Lusardi as a teacher, I personally did not really care about school or anything the teachers at school had to say…Then I had Ms. Lusardi as a teacher and my entire desire to learn changed.  She used her encouraging attitude, knowledge of chemistry, as well as her creativity, to lead my peers and me through a successful year of chemistry…”

 “Ms. Lusardi barely mentions her SOL scores of 90+ percent passing,” says a Woodbridge colleague.  “This is due to her style of leadership.  She believes if she does her job to the best of her ability, the test scores will reflect her love of teaching as well as her role as a leader in the classroom.” 
 

Donald C. Maeyer
Electronics Technology and Technology II
Woodbridge High School

“Donald Maeyer relates to his students better than any other teacher I know,” says a colleague.  “Several of my most gifted students have completed Don’s electronics program and gone on to college to study computer science.  Others, having graduated high school, go on to work in electronics retail or repair.  They often return to recount how the electronics training that they received from Mr. Mayer was the most pertinent school experience that they have ever had.  Those who have gone to college believe that their high school electronics training was more valuable to their college success than AP calculus or AP computer science,” says this colleague. 

Last year Mr. Maeyer and his students earned national recognition for their participation in the First National Robotics Competition.  Not only did he contribute countless hours of his own time to work with the students, he and the other participating teachers were able to successfully solicit local businesses for contributions such as materials and technical advice.

Betsey Nalevanko
Language Arts and Reading Teacher
Beville Middle School

“Mrs. Nalevanko is foremost an excellent teacher with particularly strong skills in language arts,” says a parent.  She practices the art of ‘leaving no child behind’ by providing after-school tutoring to children who have learning disabilities.  In the process, she enables these children to reach their highest potential.”  Several of her peers have observed that she “never gives up on a child.” She developed an evening program to teach parents how to better help their children learn.  Mrs. Nalevanko earned the Beville Star for Outstanding Teaching and Leadership, an award bestowed by her colleagues. 

“Betsey is a natural,” says an administrator.  “It takes a certain personality and commitment to be successful with middle school students and she has a knack for integrating humor with her lessons so the students are learning in spite of themselves….Betsey makes learning fun for her students and she is able to pull knowledge, skills and talents from her students that otherwise would be left untapped.” 

Elizabeth Pitts
Latin Teacher
Forest Park High School

 Elizabeth Pitts began the Latin program at Brentsville District High School in 1990.  By 1998, a single class had grown to thirteen.  This fall, she left the program she had established to begin a new one at Forest Park High School. 

 “Mrs. Pitts has the ability to transform the study of Latin into a multidisciplinary educational experience and this is what most prepared me for my further education.  She never failed to point out that Latin is not dead – but that it is living even in the most unexpected places,” says a former student.  “She bettered me as a student…Not only does she have such an understanding of the Latin language, she has a thorough understanding of how to teach each student most effectively.” Another former student says, “Her amazing gift for teaching is not just displayed in what she says or how she grades – it’s the entire atmosphere of learning that she creates…I cannot imagine that any student could leave her classroom without learning something.”
 

Andrea Sparks-Brown
Biology Teacher
Woodbridge High School

“Mrs. Sparks-Brown has inspired me to become a teacher,” says a former student.  I want to relate to and touch students in the way she does.  If there were more teachers like Mrs. Sparks-Brown there wouldn’t be as many dropouts.” 

Mrs. Sparks-Brown’s unique relationship with her students is illustrated by her selection as “Outstanding Teacher” by two senior classes, a fact made all the more impressive by the fact that her biology students are ninth graders. At Woodbridge, Mrs. Brown serves as the lead biology teacher and is often called upon to provide staff development.  She has been a delegate to the National Association of Black School Educators Conference and traveled to Chicago as part of a county delegation to the Marva Collins School.  Mrs. Sparks-Brown has incorporated many of Marva Collins’ ideas into her classroom.  In collaboration with a colleague, Mrs. Sparks-Brown initiated a math /science team at Woodbridge that encourages students, including special education students, to explore the practical applications of science through projects and community service.

Julie J. Steelman
First Grade Teacher
West Gate Elementary School

"Julie Steelman is the best teacher I have ever had the pleasure of working with,” says a former volunteer in her classroom. 
 Finding a way to get students’ attention and make learning fun are things that Julie Steelman does very well.  When teaching “r-controlled vowels,” she dresses up as the “Power of R” superhero.  When her class was studying Africa, they went on a “trip” to that continent, making airplane tickets and arranging the classroom seats to resemble the inside of an airplane. 

Mrs. Steelman was part of a team to visit the Marva Collins school in Chicago and developed a program that includes a demand of excellence from students and teachers.  This program has spread to seven others and measurable student achievement has been recorded. Mrs. Steelman’s students have embraced this program.  They know that that they are going to college and they are prepared to seek academic scholarships to support their academic journey. 

Donna Stofko
Third Grade Teacher
Rockledge Elementary School

According to Sandra Carter, Rockledge Elementary School’s principal, “for the past six years, Donna Stofko has kept the Rockledge Elementary technology program afloat.  She has used her own time to help teachers with computer programs, deal with glitches in software and hardware, programmed and maintained the computer lab, chaired the technology committee, and helped procure computer software and hardware for the school.  She has helped wire our Apple 2E computers to enable classrooms to access the Apple mainframe.  She has also supervised our two technology assistants.  Donna is tireless in her effort to elevate every staff member’s level of technology expertise.”

She is innovative in the classroom.  For example, her students design and construct their own rocket ships from soda bottles, boxes, juice cans and other materials.  Piloted by raw eggs, the rockets are launched from the roof of the school by Mrs. Stofko.   Many years after leaving her class, children can still recall all the special activities Mrs. Stofko provided to enhance their learning, her nominators say.

Michelle P. Wentzel
E.D. Self-Contained Resource Teacher
Stonewall Jackson High School

The words of a former student best illustrate Michelle Wentzel’s commitment to teaching:  “For four years Mrs. Wentzel was my teacher, mentor, counselor, mother and friend.  She educated me not only in general studies, but also in life studies….I was not an easy student to teach; in fact, I’m sure I was a nightmare student.  I was involved heavy into drugs and alcohol.  Mrs. Wentzel was one of the few people in my life who never gave up on me.  She was patient with her teachings, she took the time to talk to me and, more importantly, took the time to listen." Clean and sober for four years, this student likes to think of herself as a success story.  She currently attends college where she is majoring in special education.  Her goal is to be able to give other kids, like herself, a chance at success in their education and their lives.  “Michelle Wentzel deserves not only Teacher of the Year, but Teacher of the Millennium,” she says.

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