Honoring our 2010

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Honoring our 2010 Teachers of the Year
Applause and congratulations are in order for our 2010 teachers of the year. They were recently feted at a festive dinner held in their honor at the Wyndom Hotel at the oceanfront on September 30. The theme of the celebration was Surfing the 21st Century Together, with special “surfing” artwork created for the evening by the division’s own citywide teacher of the year, Betsy DiJulio.

The highlight of the evening, of course, was the formal recognition of each of our 88 Teachers of the Year, one from each of our schools and centers. Teachers were individually recognized and also had a “photo op” with Superintendent Jim Merrill and their respective principals.

Special recognition was granted to our four citywide finalists Susan Jusell, Jennifer Kelly, Melissa Knight, and Jennifer Schmidt, and to our citywide 2010 Teacher of the Year Betsy DiJulio, who was also the keynote speaker.

We are featuring an “up close and personal” profile of our 2010 Citywide Teacher of the Year Betsy DiJulio. In addition, we are including brief profiles of our four finalists as well as photos and school information about all of our teachers of the year. We hope you will spend a few minutes reading about these model teachers.

Congratulations to all of our VBCPS 2010 Teachers of the Year! They bring great honor to themselves, their schools, and the entire school division.

Former Citywide Teachers of the Year Pat McGloine (2007), Princess Anne High School social studies teacher, and Erika Hitchcock (2008), Old Donation Center art teacher, enjoy the festivities at this year’s Teacher of the Year dinner.

2010 Citywide Teacher of the Year Betsy DiJulio (Princess Anne High School art teacher) gave a thought-provoking as well as entertaining speech
at the recent dinner held to honor the VBCPS teachers of the year.

Betsy DiJulio, five-year veteran art teacher, Princess Anne High School

“I’d rather be dead if I couldn’t create…”

Jazz musician Miles Davis may have made that statement, but Betsy DiJulio likes to use that line to indicate her commitment to art and the creative process. As an artist, she still holds on to her childhood dream to “create art.” As a teacher she has become much more inclusive in making that dream live. Her goal for every student is to awaken the inner artist. And to this end, she is successful!

In her classroom, passion meets purpose and extraordinary learning opportunities for ALL children abound. Carolyn D., a student in her visual arts class at Princess Anne High School, characterizes her teacher’s efforts this way: "Her class was unlike any other art I had taken; she taught us techniques and meanings while still letting us maintain a personal connection with our art….While she would help us with our composition and analytical aspects of our art, we made the decisions in terms of content and how it was portrayed….I believe Mrs. DiJulio is more than Teacher of the Year; she is an inspiration and one of the best teachers I have ever had the privilege of learning from."

DiJulio teaches International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program Art Foundations, Drawing, Painting & Printmaking, and AP Studio/Advanced Art. Her students don’t walk out the door and say “good class.” Instead, they walk into real-life energized because she has facilitated connections that resonate with them in ways that create opportunities. For example, she arranged a schoolwide presentation by Virginian Pilot newspaper illustrator Sam Hundley, and then challenged her students to look at life through his professional eyes. Her students transformed newspaper articles into linoleum block prints. Their portfolio is now a prized possession of the newspaper. A field trip to Norfolk Botanical Gardens to see the African exhibit, Mutambo was eye-opening for her students. Ultimately, they created such masterful interpretations of the exhibit that Old Dominion University asked to exhibit their work at the ODU Higher Education Center.

DiJulio designs and delivers instruction based on the needs of her students. Her differentiated units of study are conceptual as well as stimulating. Her motivation is best exemplified in her own words: "As an art educator, artist and writer, I believe that the needs to create and to communicate are fundamental. I help students feel safe and supported as I motivate them to explore, experiment and express….I shape experiences that will help students say something meaningful about personal experience and perspective in their art while interpreting and understanding what others, both past and present and near and far, have said through theirs."

Betsy DiJulio is passionate about education and she works tirelessly to create open-ended learning opportunities for ALL students. Congratulations, Betsy, on a well-deserved honor!

Susan Jusell, Library Media Specialist
College Park Elementary School
Susan Jusell is a six-year veteran teacher. She began her career at Bettie F. Williams Elementary where she served as a library media specialist for four years. She then moved to College Park as library media specialist where she currently serves. Jusell sees herself as a book “geek” whose professional goals have remained constant: She is committed to building her knowledge, continuing her development of varied teaching strategies, locating additional resources for her professional toolbox, and working tirelessly to ensure that every student has the same access and opportunity for learning. Jusell believes her contributions to education are the result of her love of learning, her perseverance, and her absolute certainty that all of a school’s staff is accountable for each child’s success. Her principal, Liz Warren (now retired), had this to say about her: Every job is a self portrait of the person who does it. Susan is that model teacher. She autographs her work with excellence. She is truly a 21st century educator. Her professionalism, hard work and dedication is noticed and remarked upon by all. Congratulations, Susan!

Jennifer Kelly, Library Media Specialist
First Colonial High School
Jennifer Kelly is an 11-year veteran teacher. Her career in education began in Hauppauge, NY where she served as an English teacher for three years at Hauppauge High School. She then served as the school’s library media specialist for one year before coming to First Colonial High School to serve in the same capacity. Kelly has been at First Colonial ever since. She has always wanted to be a teacher and took great satisfaction serving as an English AND a French teacher. As she gained experience in teaching, Kelly found herself becoming more interested in encouraging students’ love of reading for pleasure and in increasing students’ ability to effectively conduct research and use technology. As a result, she elected to pursue her Master’s degree in library and information science with a concentration in school media. She works tirelessly to create and maintain in the library a vibrant, welcoming, yet structured environment that is conducive to student learning. She also believes there is continuing work to be done in terms of technological advances and their impact on the world of education. As she sees it, it is her imperative to keep abreast of these changes and to help the faculty at First Colonial find ways to engage students by using this technology in the classroom. Her principal, Dale Holt, had this to say about her: Jennifer Kelly is a dedicated teacher who helps teachers and students discover success as they become knowledgeable and learn more about themselves and their ability to use modern technologies.

Melissa Knight, gifted resource specialist
Providence Elementary School
Melissa Knight is a 21-year veteran teacher. She began her career with VBCPS as a kindergarten teacher, serving at Linkhorn Park and Trantwood elementary schools. In 1992 she transferred to Providence Elementary and has remained at the school since that time. Knight models her teaching on training she has received from such educational gurus as Sandra Kaplan, Carol Ann Tomlinson, Del Siegle, and Jay McTighe. She dedicates herself to offering “educational opportunities that challenge, require creative and critical thinking, and most of all leave the learner wanting to know more.” As one who has been in the teaching field for so many years, Knight sees herself as contributing to the profession through her work with gifted students, her experience as a curriculum writer, and her efforts in teacher training, working with classroom cluster teachers. She is dedicated to her lifelong goal of continually stretching her mind and the minds of her students and fellow teachers. Her principal, Jennifer Born, had this to say about her: The catalysts for making the greatest difference in the lives of children at Providence are Mrs. Knight’s diligence and unparalleled commitment to excellence every day.

Jennifer Schmidt, Early Childhood Special Education Teacher, Green Run Elementary School
Jennifer Schmidt began her career in education in 1996 when she first served as an early childhood special education (ECSE) teacher at Roanoke Academy of Math and Science in Roanoke, VA. After a year teaching at the Academy, she moved to Suffolk and served for two years as an ECSE teacher at Florence Bowser Elementary before coming to Green Run Elementary in 1999 to serve in the same capacity. She has been at Green Run ever since, working with children with disabilities. As she puts it, “To see a disabled child work so hard and finally reach a goal is one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had.” Schmidt makes it her personal challenge to understand each child’s disability so she can develop a program that uses exemplary strategies to lead her students to maximum success. She takes great satisfaction in knowing that all of her students leave her classroom having made at least two years worth of progress during their preschool years. For some children, this is a phenomenal achievement, but it is achievement that is always possible, provided children are given the right type of support. Her principal, Ron Sykes, had this to say about her: "Mrs. Schmidt is truly a one of a kind preschool teacher. There appears to be nothing she won’t do for her students, and I mean absolutely nothing! After seeing her in action, I can now say I’ve seen it all!"