In The News

Congratulations to the 2010-2011 teachers of the year

(May 14, 2010) - Newport News Public Schools is proud to announce the division-wide, elementary, middle and high school 2010-2011 Teachers of the Year.

Janet Kennedy
Division-wide & Elementary School Teacher of the Year

Janet Kennedy, who teaches physical education at South Morrison Elementary School, was named Newport News Public Schools Elementary School and division-wide Teacher of the Year Thursday (May 13).

Kennedy is a 28-year teaching veteran who earned National Board Certification last year. She has been at South Morrison since 2003 and teaches students in grades K-5. She started jump-rope and speed-stack teams at the school and helped bring a ballroom dancing team to South Morrison. She says teaching physical education is the “best career ever.”

Kennedy is an active volunteer in the community, especially the military community at Fort Eustis, where she served as honorary mayor for one of the post’s housing areas. In addition to helping military families – especially those of deployed soldiers – she has worked on behalf of the American Heart Association, the Girl Scouts, the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk, and other organizations.

The physical-education teacher takes a special interest in combating childhood obesity and inactivity – by whatever means necessary. Kennedy has incorporated technology in her South Morrison classes, using pedometers, heart-rate monitors, activities like Dance Dance Revolution, and computers to track students’ progress. 
 

Grace Rivera
Middle School Teacher of the Year

Grace Rivera, a language-arts teacher at Hines Middle School, was named Middle School Teacher of the Year. Rivera has taught at Hines since 2007. She teaches seventh-graders and is a veteran of the Teach for America program in inner-city Baltimore and the Peace Corps, serving in Ukraine from 2005-07.

Rivera cites her encounter with learners and teachers in Ukraine as an important catalyst. The education system in the former Soviet state moved from rote learning and memorization toward more creative, critical, and individual learning after Ukraine became independent in 1991.

Rivera is Lead English Teacher and participates in the National Writing Project. She started a reading buddies peer tutoring program at Hines and coaches three Odyssey of the Mind teams.
 

Linda Rich
High School Teacher of the Year

Linda Rich, a history teacher at Warwick High School, was named High School Teacher of the Year. Rich has been at Warwick since 2002 and teaches U.S. History and IB History of the Americas to 11th-graders.

Rich was 48 when she entered the teaching profession and sees herself as a lifelong learner. She has participated in the Foundations of Freedom project, funded by federal grants, since 2007. She sponsors several organizations, including the History Club, at Warwick.  

Rich also is active in community groups. She has worked with the Scouts and Youth Challenge and taught Sunday school. She also has volunteered at Mennowood retirement community and mentored some “lost boys” of Sudan who were displaced by civil war.
 

Grade Level Teachers of the Year

Early childhood centers
Alicia Howell, Denbigh Early Childhood Center
Patti Grella, Gatewood P.E.E.P.
Michelle Stieler, Lee Hall Early Childhood Center
April Cutkay, Magruder Early Childhood Center
Darlette Ambrose, Watkins Early Childhood Center

Elementary schools
Angela Kellereskie, An Achievable Dream Academy
Terry McGlennon, Carver Elementary
Kay Brookman, Charles Elementary
Amy Eubank, Deer Park Elementary
Rachel Welch, Dutrow Elementary
Karen Ciotta, Epes Elementary
Annemarie Hanrahan, General Stanford Elementary
Ann Shoemaker, Greenwood Elementary
Patty McNichol, Hidenwood Elementary
Ashley Beck, Hilton Elementary
Diana Furman, Jenkins Elementary
Barbara Letteri-Walker, Kiln Creek Elementary
Linda Griffith, Lee Hall Elementary
Jacinta Wooden, Magruder Primary
Janet Rippy, Marshall Elementary
Tiffany Deloatch, McIntosh Elementary
Sarah Wooley, Nelson Elementary
Don Smith, Newsome Park Elementary
Amy Wilcox, Palmer Elementary
Rhonda Bell, Richneck Elementary
Danielle Buchanan, Riverside Elementary
Colleen Dwyer, Sanford Elementary
Meredith Holt, Saunders Elementary
Janet Gingery, Sedgefield Elementary
Janet Kennedy, South Morrison Elementary
Tom Bourgeois, Yates Elementary

Middle schools
Lori Dagley, An Achievable Dream Middle School
Ryan Hagerty, Crittenden Middle School
Jane Marioneaux, Dozier Middle School
Angela Swanson, Gildersleeve Middle School
Grace Rivera, Hines Middle School
Sharnita McKay, Huntington Middle School
Patrice Lambusta, Passage Middle School
Vernon Corbin Jr., Washington Middle School

High schools
James Hayden, An Achievable Dream High School
Khadijah Jones, Denbigh High School
Heather Sorrell, Heritage High School
Pete Mercier, Menchville High School
Linda Rich, Warwick High School
Allison Anderson, Woodside High School