MEMBER RECOGNITION
In March, 2023, the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce recognized 739 teachers in the 34th annual Outstanding Teacher Awards program. Among those 739 teachers, Omicron Chapter's very own Denise Kresslein was selected as one of eight finalists for Carroll County Teacher of the Year. Congratulations, Denise!
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In April, 2023, Maryland Humanities selected
Denise Kresslein as Maryland History Day Middle and High School Teacher of the Year. "Denise was nominated and recognized for her work supporting students at both North Carroll Middle School and Westminster East Middle School on their History Day projects. Of the 92 students who registered to compete in the Carroll County History Day competition, over 40 of the students worked with Ms. Kresslein on their submissions. Fifteen of those students placed in their respective categories and advanced to the Maryland History Day competition which will be held on Saturday, May 6, 2023, at UMBC. Kresslein will also be formally recognized on May 6 at Maryland History Day." You can read the full CCPS report here. |
Congratulations to Nora Murray, Baltimore County Public Schools Program Specialist who was named student council Regional Advisor of the Year in April, 2022. Nora was honored by the Maryland Association of Student Councils. As posted on Nora's Facebook page, "In numerous letters of recommendation, Murray was lauded for increasing participation and diversity in student leadership programs, establishing the new Baltimore County Junior Council for middle school students, hosting several statewide events, and implementing implicit bias training for students. Murray has led student leadership, service-learning, and volunteer programs in BCPS since 2014." You can read the full news release about Nora's recognition here: http://ow.ly/Bvp350IPZNv
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Congratulations to Sandy Dutterer who was inducted into the Mount Airy Hall of Fame on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. This deserving award was given to Sandy for her many contributions to the town of Mount Airy and to her dedicated involvement with the Mt. Airy Museum which is located in the downtown historical train station.
Congratulations to Nora Murray, who was recognized by the Baltimore County Department of Aging on November 2, 2021. Below is a lovely tribute to Nora that appeared on the BCDA Facebook Page:
"Each Tuesday, BCDA shines the spotlight on a person or group connected with our Department. This week, it is our honor to spotlight Nora Murray, the Program Specialist for the Office of Family & Community Engagement with Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS).
Nora wears many hats in her role. She oversees the training procedures for prospective volunteers, serves as an advisor to the student leadership, oversees the county’s implementation of service learning hours for students, and works with the student members of the board. Despite all of the moving parts of her job, she still finds the time to fulfill her duties as an agency partner for the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).
For the past 7 years, she has consistently supported RSVP. She works with the RSVP Office to organize annual information sessions to recruit and train new volunteers. She loves engaging volunteers and other stakeholders in the schools because they are the voices of the community. By serving in the classrooms, they can see firsthand how their tax dollars are being spent, giving them the voice to advocate and vote on behalf of the students.
Thank you, Nora, for your enthusiasm and drive to connect seniors in the classrooms!
Baltimore County Public Schools is a registered partner of the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) of Baltimore County. If you would like to become a BCPS volunteer or learn about other volunteer opportunities contact 410-887-3101 or [email protected]."
"Each Tuesday, BCDA shines the spotlight on a person or group connected with our Department. This week, it is our honor to spotlight Nora Murray, the Program Specialist for the Office of Family & Community Engagement with Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS).
Nora wears many hats in her role. She oversees the training procedures for prospective volunteers, serves as an advisor to the student leadership, oversees the county’s implementation of service learning hours for students, and works with the student members of the board. Despite all of the moving parts of her job, she still finds the time to fulfill her duties as an agency partner for the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).
For the past 7 years, she has consistently supported RSVP. She works with the RSVP Office to organize annual information sessions to recruit and train new volunteers. She loves engaging volunteers and other stakeholders in the schools because they are the voices of the community. By serving in the classrooms, they can see firsthand how their tax dollars are being spent, giving them the voice to advocate and vote on behalf of the students.
Thank you, Nora, for your enthusiasm and drive to connect seniors in the classrooms!
Baltimore County Public Schools is a registered partner of the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) of Baltimore County. If you would like to become a BCPS volunteer or learn about other volunteer opportunities contact 410-887-3101 or [email protected]."
On October 15, 2021, Priscilla Ord was honored with an Alumni College Service Award from McDaniel College. Priscilla earned her bachelor's degree in English in 1963 from McDaniel College and went on to earn a master's degree in Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1969. Priscilla has dedicated more than five decades to education, starting her career in 1963 as a ninth-grade English and social studies teacher in Baltimore County Public Schools. Most recently, she served for 10 years as an adjunct lecturer in the English department at McDaniel College until 2016. At McDaniel, Priscilla has served as a class reporter from 1963 to 1973, director on the McDaniel College Alumni Council from 1975 to 1978, a national member on the alumni national fund committee from 1982 to 1983, and a reunion committee member in 2003 and 2008.
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Denise Kresslein has a new position to begin the 2021-2022 school year serving as an Advanced Academics Teacher for North Carroll Middle and East Middle Schools. Traditionally, the gifted program has been a model where students were pulled out of classes to participate in extended learning opportunities. Now, the model is for advanced academics teachers to push into classes and co-plan/coteach with the classroom teachers to provide lessons with more depth and complexity within the regular classroom. There is a focus on creating science extensions in which the new advanced academics teachers are placing into the curriculum to support classroom teachers with ways to enhance instruction for highly able learners.
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Omicron's newest inductee, Andrea Rowinski, an art teacher at Liberty High School was featured in the June 20, 2021 edition of the Carroll County Times. The article enlarges and can be read more easily once you click on the image. Way to go, Andi!
This photograph entitled, "The Joy of Reading" was taken by chapter president, Iris Wingert, in 2019 during the Taneytown Elementary School book fair. It was entered and accepted for display in the juried Fall, 2019 DKG Virtual Arts Gallery. Iris received a letter dated August 8, 2020 from the DKG International headquarters congratulating her for the selection and publication of this photograph in the 2020 Volume 86-4 issue of the Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin. Iris donated a framed copy of this photograph to the Taneytown Elementary School media center where it currently hangs on the wall. For a better view of the photograph, click on the image.
Business teacher, Leslie Chesley, leads the way as advisor of the Manchester Valley H. S. Future Business Leaders of America Club (FBLA) which is 97 members strong. Forty-two of her club members sailed through regional competitions. Twenty-nine club members (pictured below) excelled at the State level as well. The State competition was held in person on March 12 at the Marriott Renaissance Harbor Place Hotel in Baltimore, MD. There were over one thousand students representing 50 Maryland high schools. Twenty-nine of Leslie's students placed in the top 10 for their business category which included accounting, agribusiness, coding and programming, networking concepts, parliamentary procedure, spreadsheet applications, word processing, introduction to business presentation, business calculations, and more. Leslie put in hours of overtime to help students prepare for these events and her dedication paid off along with the hard work of her students as eight brought home First Place Awards and a total of 15 students have earned a spot in the National Competition in late June. (May, 2020)
An article which appeared in the March 12, 2020 online edition of Sea Grant Maryland highlights the incredible work of South Carroll High School Science Research teacher, Judy Plaskowitz and her students. Of special note is the fact that the yellow perch that were wintering over indoors in their science research classroom laid eggs in captivity. That was an extraordinary event that occurred in Judy's class where her students are studying acquaculture. To read this wonderful article in its entirety, click here: https://www.mdsg.umd.edu/onthebay-blog/eggs-traordinary-discovery-carroll-county-high-school-science-research-produces-first.
Denise Kresslein and Judy Plaskowitz were among the eight finalists for Outstanding Teacher of the Year Awards during the 31st Outstanding Teacher of the Year recognition from the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce. 560 teachers were recognized this year. Omicron is so proud to have two of its members go to the semi-final round in determining who would be Carroll County's Teacher of the Year. Congratulations to both Denise and Judy for outstanding work in their classrooms. (April, 2020)
Lisa Macurak, social studies teacher at Shiloh Middle School and a member of the New Windsor Heritage Committee is an archealogist extraordinaire! She has been involved at an archaeological dig at the spring house in New Windsor since 2007. At that site, Lisa offers opportunities for students to learn about archaeology with hands-on experiences that teach them how to make inferences about how people lived years ago based on what they discover at the dig site. Lisa’s work has resulted in a new exhibit at the research library of the Carroll County Historical Society. On display are artifacts that may be as old as 4,000 years to items from the 1920s. The exhibit which is appropriately entitled, "We 'Dig' the History of New Windsor, Maryland is shown below. (Click on each picture to get a closer look): (February, 2020)
Congratulations to Nancy Parker, a retired English Teacher at South Carroll High School, who celebrates her golden anniversary as a member of the Omicron Chapter of Carroll County.
October 21, 2019: "Denise Kresslein, a life science teacher at North Carroll Middle School, has been selected to receive a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).
Kresslein has been teaching in Carroll County since 1996 and was teaching at West Middle School when she was named a Finalist for the Presidential Award. She is a CCPS science curriculum writer for middle schools and has served on numerous Maryland State Department of Education committees. These include Maryland Integrated Science Assessment range finding, content review, and standards setting. "
You can read the entire article about Denise on this link: https://www.carrollk12.org/about/news/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=2681
Kresslein has been teaching in Carroll County since 1996 and was teaching at West Middle School when she was named a Finalist for the Presidential Award. She is a CCPS science curriculum writer for middle schools and has served on numerous Maryland State Department of Education committees. These include Maryland Integrated Science Assessment range finding, content review, and standards setting. "
You can read the entire article about Denise on this link: https://www.carrollk12.org/about/news/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=2681
Twelve education sea grant professionals gathered to see Judy Plaskowitz's classroom at South Carroll High School in July, 2019. They visited her newly remodeled classroom and large fish tanks as a model of aquaponics and aquaculture for the state of Maryland. The educators were learning to build a microcomputer-driven water quality monitoring system for aquaculture — an activity created to introduce students to engineering and software design. Specific details about the workshop and other information were reported about in the following article: www.mdsg.umd.edu/onthebay-blog/education-professionals-gather-2019-sea-grant-education-network-aquaculture-summit
Shiloh Middle School Social Studies Teacher, Lisa Macurak, who is also a member of the New Windsor Heritage Committee, conducted archaeological digs in the New Windsor area throughout the summer, 2019 for student volunteers, ages 11 and older. Typical finds include pottery, glass shards, and buttons.
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Denise Kresslein, a sixth grade science teacher at West Middle School, is one of three Maryland finalists for the 2018 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. This article appeared in the Carroll County Times on October 27, 2018:
http://digitaledition.carrollcountytimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=6ba66e88-1935-4023-b710-3697049b08a6 |
Celebrating a Golden Anniversary, long-standing member, Althea Miller receives a congratulatory gift from Omicron chapter president, Kathleen Brunnett, for her 50th year of chapter membership and service during the May, 2016 installation meeting.
Members who were nominated CCPS Outstanding Teachers of the Year, 2016.
From left: Kathy Wojcik, Maria Shanabarger, Cindiana King, and Kathleen Brunnett.
(Notice the sign in the background: "Leaders of the Pack")
From left: Kathy Wojcik, Maria Shanabarger, Cindiana King, and Kathleen Brunnett.
(Notice the sign in the background: "Leaders of the Pack")
This Page Last Updated May, 2023