DIAA announces athlete award winners

The Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the winners of the 2018 DIAA/Harry Roberts – Senior Scholar Athlete awards.  The award is named in recognition and memory of Dr. Harry Roberts, former superintendent of the Caesar Rodney School District who served DIAA on several committees, most notably as chair of the DIAA Sportsmanship Committee for many years.

 

“This was a stellar group of student athletes and choosing from so many qualified candidates was a humbling and difficult task,” said DIAA Board Chairperson Dr. Bradley Layfield  on behalf of the selection Committee. “I cannot remember a more impressive group of young men and women who exemplify the DIAA motto ‘Education through Athletics.’”

 

“These student-athletes exemplify the outstanding job DIAA member schools are doing in providing a well-rounded educational experiences for Delaware’s young people,” he said.

 

The awards are presented annually by the DIAA based on the student’s academic, athletic and leadership accomplishments.

 

Females

First

 

($2,000):

 

Isabelle Pilson, Tower Hill

Second

 

Third

($1500):

 

($1000 each):

 

Nyra Giles, Laurel

 

Stephanie Horne, Caesar Rodney

Christina Bourantas, Wilmington Christian

Males

First

 

($2,000):

 

Thomas Pomatto, Caesar Rodney

Second ($1500 each):  

Michael Chen, Newark Charter

Nikhil Mehta, Appoquinimink

Third ($1000 each):  

Miles Petersen, Sanford School

Paul Thompson, Mt. Pleasant

 

In the history of the awards there have been 107 scholarship recipients, from 33 different member schools with the total amount of money awarded being more than $140,000.

 

Contact: Thomas E. Neubauer, thomas.neubauer@doe.k12.de.us, 302-857-3365 

 


Governor’s 2018 Agricultural and Urban Conservation Award winners honored

Delaware Association of Conservation Districts honors State Representative David L. Wilson as Legislator of the Year

DOVER – The Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village was the setting for today’s annual Governor’s Agricultural and Urban Conservation Awards. Governor John Carney, along with Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Shawn M. Garvin, Department of Agriculture Secretary Michael Scuse, Delaware Association of Conservation Districts President Edwin Alexander, and USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service State Conservationist Kasey Taylor, led a ceremony recognizing this year’s honorees and signed a proclamation officially designating April 29-May 6 as Soil and Water Stewardship Week in Delaware under the theme, “Healthy Soils Are Full of Life.”

“Today’s honorees have demonstrated their ongoing commitment to improving the environment, and on behalf of the people of Delaware, I would like to thank each of them for their dedication and for their time, effort, and investment to implement model conservation practices,” said Governor Carney. “I also want to thank all of the Conservation District supervisors and employees for the many and various contributions they make to improve the quality of life in Delaware.”

“Much of the work we do at DNREC is accomplished through partnerships with USDA-NRCS and Delaware’s three conservation districts, and these awards highlight the beneficial outcomes of these relationships,” said Secretary Garvin. “This year’s honorees are wonderful and diverse examples of how we can learn from the success of others and can all be better environmental stewards by taking thoughtful and important actions to protect and enhance our water and air quality.”

This year’s Conservation Award winners are:

New Castle County

Urban: Cheltenham Bridge –Westminster Civic Association, Hockessin

The community of Westminster has privately-maintained streets including three bridges that cross Hyde Run, a small tributary of Mill Creek. In 2013, the Westminster Civic Association (WCA) contracted with Pennoni Associates to inspect the Cheltenham Bridge and provide recommendations to the WCA. The association planned to replace the existing bridge and remove an adjacent upstream bridge, realigning an affected driveway. The WCA contacted Representative Gerald Brady to request funding assistance; Rep. Brady contacted the New Castle Conservation District seeking engineering and funding assistance for the project. NCCD contracted with Pennoni for bridge engineering and design services, permit acquisition, limited construction services, and technical assistance. Pennoni used accelerated bridge construction methods to design a prefabricated concrete arch bridge to meet the community’s needs while allowing for a three-month construction period – about one-third of the construction time for a site-built bridge, minimizing community inconvenience and stream resource impacts. The contractor, Merit Construction Engineers, delivered and erected the 30-foot-long by 30-foot-wide precast concrete arch frame in just two days, saving an estimated $200,000 in construction costs. This bridge construction method may have applicability in other communities in New Castle County and throughout Delaware.

Kent County

Agricultural: Broad Acres, Dover

In 1943, Joseph Zimmerman started his first farming operation across from Dover Air Force Base and in 1944 moved to a Leipsic farm. On Sept. 15, 1952, Joseph signed his cooperator’s agreement with the Kent County Soil Conservation District. In 1978, the farm was named Broad Acres, Inc. From those early days until the current day, the Zimmerman family has been long-time supporters of all conservation practices and excellent environmental stewards. Current owners Fred and Dan Zimmerman grow 300 acres of potatoes, 600 acres of small grains, 700 acres of corn, and 1,000 acres of soybeans on the 800 acres they own plus an additional 1,200 acres they rent. Through conservation practices, they address water quality, soil erosion, nutrient management, and water management through tile and open drainage practices. The Zimmermans also serve as managers on the South Muddy Branch Tax Ditch, and support the Delaware Envirothon through the Kent Conservation District’s Barn Dance fundraiser by donating potatoes for the event’s auction.

Urban: Delmarva Power and Light Company

The Delmarva Power and Light Company and their environmental consultant, McCormick Taylor, Inc., demonstrated a commitment to protecting natural areas and minimizing environmental impacts throughout the completion of a major transmission line rebuild from Cedar Creek to Milford along the entire eastern length of Kent County. The project crossed substantial areas of fresh water wetlands and tidal marsh while minimizing environmental impacts. The project utilized 776,500 square-feet of composite wetland matting, 81,000 feet of filter logs, and 48 temporary bridge crossings to minimize the impacts of equipment and vehicles. The project also utilized aerial sky cranes to transport and install transmission poles and lines across critically sensitive areas, further minimizing impacts to those areas.

Sussex County

Agricultural: Chip Baker, H&V Farms Inc., Millsboro

As the owner of H&V Farms in Millsboro in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Chip Baker has made a long-term commitment to improving water quality, using innovative methods of enhancing soil health, planting cover crops, and protecting the environment. Baker farms 621 acres of corn and soybeans and has a 50,000-broiler operation. His farm has been never-till for 25 years, and he plants multispecies blends of cover crops on all of his acres, with the goal of having all his ground covered all year round. Baker participates in the Conservation Stewardship Program for nutrient management, irrigation water management, conservation tillage, and pest management, as well as the District’s Air Seeder Pilot Program. Because of Baker’s innovation and interest in improving soil health and promoting soil health practices with his peers, he became a Delaware Soil Health Champion, joining a large national network of more than 200 soil health champions. In 2016, Baker hosted and shared his experience with about 115 people for an Air Seeder Demonstration/Soil Health Field Day at his farm. He also serves on the District’s Soil Health Advisory Committee, providing guidance and direction to the District in regards to soil health outreach and education efforts.

Urban: Delaware Avenue Streambank Restoration Project, Laurel

Initiated by DNREC, the Delaware Avenue/Ellis stream restoration project in Laurel addressed damage from the June 2006 flood in western Sussex County. During this flood event, parts of western Sussex County received between 12” and 18” of rainfall in a 24-hour period. The high storm flows caused severe bank erosion, resulting considerable loss of property. After visiting the site, DNREC’s Drainage Program staff decided to apply a natural channel design or stream restoration approach, rather the traditional bank stabilization methodology. Natural channel design restores degraded streams by creating a system that mimics natural conditions, including sequences of pools and riffles, floodplains, and meanders. These features increase bank stability while helping to improve water quality and ecological diversity. This project was completed for approximately $75,000 from the Resource, Conservation, and Development 21st Century fund and Community Transportation funds provided by Representative Timothy Dukes.

Delaware Association of Conservation Districts’ Legislator of the Year

The Delaware Association of Conservation Districts (DACD) also recognized State Representative David L. Wilson, 35th District, as the 2017 Legislator of the Year, an annual award given for outstanding service, loyalty and devotion to conservation efforts in Delaware. Rep. Wilson has advocated for DACD in his capacity on the House Agriculture Committee and the Bond Bill Committee. He has also been an active supporter of Sussex Conservation District activities and has participated in both Sussex and USDA cost share programs.

Delaware’s Conservation Districts, one in each county, are a unique governmental unit within DNREC. Their mission is to provide technical and financial assistance to help Delawareans conserve and improve their local natural resources, including solving land, water and related resource problems; developing conservation programs to solve them; enlisting and coordinating help from public and private sources to accomplish these goals; and increasing awareness of the inter-relationship between human activities and the natural environment. Delaware’s district supervisors have a statewide organization, the Delaware Association of Conservation Districts (DACD), a voluntary, non-profit alliance that provides a forum for discussion and coordination among the Conservation Districts.

Media Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902


Governor Carney Honors “Kids Safe Online” Poster Contest Winners

Fourth grade students at Gallaher Elementary sweep top three spots

DOVER, Del. – Governor John Carney, joined by Chief Information Officer James Collins, Christina School District Superintendent Richard Gregg, and other officials, parents and students from Christina School District, today celebrated the winners of the 2018 “Kids Safe Online” Poster Contest at Gallaher Elementary School. For the first time in the ten year history of the contest there was a complete sweep of winners from the same school. Art teacher Kelly Walzl’s fourth grade students Aubrie Rodriguez, Clayton Starkey, and Catalina Syto placed first, second and third, respectively. These students’ posters were judged to be the best among 1,400 submissions. Gallaher Elementary School has placed in the top three for the last five consecutive years and has two previous national winners.

“The importance of cyber safety cannot be overstated and the ‘Kids Safe Online’ Poster Contest is a creative way to encourage young people to be cautious about what they share on the Internet, teaching them the potential risks,” said Governor John Carney. “Awareness and education are key to ensuring our children know how to stay safe online.”

“I’d like to commend all kids that participated in this year’s contest and a special congratulations to the winners at Gallaher Elementary,” said Chief Information Officer James Collins. “We’re so glad to be able to partner with schools across the entire state to bring cyber security safety presentations and the ‘Kids Safe Online’ Poster Contest to the classroom to engage our young people on their level.”

“Congratulations to these Gallaher students for their outstanding work. Their posters will help spread this important message to their peers across the state,” said Secretary of Education Susan Bunting.

The “Kids Safe Online” poster contest is sponsored on the state level by the Delaware Department of Technology and Information. The program encourages young people to use the Internet safely and securely and engages them in creating messages and images to communicate to their peers the importance of staying safe online. The contest is run in conjunction with cyber safety presentations given in schools across the state in October, which is National Cyber Security Month. Over 1,400 students from fourth and fifth grades across Delaware submitted high quality posters for consideration. The top three state selections were also submitted to the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) for entry into its national 2018 Kids Safe Online poster contest.

For more information about how to stay safe online, please visit digiknow.dti.delaware.gov.


Presentation to Kent County Levy Court celebrates Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs’ accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums

(DOVER, Del.—March 16, 2018)—Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs Deputy Director Suzanne Savery and site supervisor Nena Todd of the division’s downtown Dover museums recently gave a presentation to the commissioners of the Kent County Levy Court celebrating the accreditation of the museum system of the State of Delaware by the American Alliance of Museums, the highest recognition afforded to museums in the United States.

Administered by the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, the museum system includes five state museums—the John Dickinson Plantation near Kitts Hummock; the Johnson Victrola Museum and Old State House in downtown Dover; the New Castle Court House Museum; and the Zwaanendael Museum in Lewes—over 40 historic properties and the state’s archaeological and historic-objects collections. Go to the following for a comprehensive, long-term calendar of division-sponsored events.

American Alliance of Museums logo

Developed and sustained by museum professionals for over 45 years, the alliance’s accreditation program is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability. It strengthens the museum profession by promoting practices that enable leaders to make informed decisions, allocate resources wisely and remain financially and ethically accountable in order to provide the best possible service to the public.

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Contact:
Jim Yurasek
Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs
Phone: 302-739-7787
E-mail: Jim.Yurasek@delaware.gov
Web: http://history.delaware.gov


State Rep. Collins visits Prince George’s Chapel in Dagsboro to celebrate accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums

(DOVER, Del.—March 15, 2018)—State Rep. Richard G. Collins recently visited Prince George’s Chapel, located at 32040 Ward Lane in Dagsboro, Del., to celebrate the accreditation of the museum system of the State of Delaware by the American Alliance of Museums, the highest recognition afforded to museums in the United States. Administered by the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, the system includes five state museums, over 40 historic properties and the state’s archaeological and historic-objects collections.

Developed and sustained by museum professionals for over 45 years, the alliance’s accreditation program is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability. It strengthens the museum profession by promoting practices that enable leaders to make informed decisions, allocate resources wisely and remain financially and ethically accountable in order to provide the best possible service to the public.

American Alliance of Museums logo

Built in 1755, Prince George’s Chapel had its beginnings as an Anglican chapel-of-ease, serving the northern outlying area of Worcester Parish, Maryland. The chapel was named in honor of the English prince who would later become King George III. During the reorganization of the Episcopal Church following the American Revolution, the chapel became an independent parish church in the Diocese of Delaware. Acquired by the state of Delaware in 1967, it was restored and reopened in 1974.

The chapel is a superb example of 18th-century church architecture in the English tradition conceived for masonry but here executed in wood in an area where no other medium was readily available. Its most striking feature is the graceful barrel-vaulted ceiling of natural, unadorned heart-pine planks. The nave section remains as the original 18th century portion, while the east transept-end, with its great window and octagonal high-pulpit, has been reconstructed.

The site is managed by the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs and operated by the Friends of Prince George’s Chapel which opens it for public visitation at various times during the year. For visitor information, call 302-732-3777.

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Contact:
Jim Yurasek
Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs
Phone: 302-739-7787
E-mail: Jim.Yurasek@delaware.gov
Web: http://history.delaware.gov