Delaware Honors Middle and High School Digital Mapping Winners

Secretary of Education Mark Holodick today honored the Delaware winners of the Esri’s 2023 ArcGIS US School Competition.

 

The winners for high school

  • Natalie Lewis
    • Grade 11, Caesar Rodney High School
    • Supporting teacher: Kim Lewis
    • Entry – Dover AFB
  • Alicia Zhang
  • Abigail Sweet & Kaylee McDowell

 

The winner for middle school

 

Past winning entries from Delaware students along with more information is available online here.

 

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006

12 Schools Honored For Students’ Academic Achievement

Secretary of Education Mark Holodick commends 12 schools from across the state for their students’ growth and progress toward English language proficiency.

 

Woodbridge Early Childhood Education Center in the Woodbridge School District is among a host of U.S. schools that have been named a 2022 National ESEA Distinguished School for the extraordinary success of their students. The National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators (NAESPA), formerly the National Title I Association, has been selecting examples of superior, federally funded school programs for national recognition through the National ESEA Distinguished Schools program (formerly the National Title I Distinguished Schools program) since 1996.

 

The 2022 National ESEA Distinguished Schools will be honored February 1-4, 2023, at the 2023 National ESEA Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.

 

Woodbridge Early Childhood Education Center, which will receive $11,500 as a financial award, also is among 10 Delaware schools named a Recognition School for Excellence in Serving Special Populations for the growth and progress toward English language proficiency that their multi-language learners made during the 2021-2022 school year. The students showed exceptional growth toward meeting proficiency on ACCESS tests.

 

The nine other Recognition schools each will receive an $8,000 award, a certificate and a banner to hang in their building.  Two schools also are being recognized as Schools of Continued Excellence and will receive a certificate and a banner. Schools of Continued Excellence are schools that have qualified as a Recognition School for the second consecutive year so are ineligible for the Recognition award this year.

 

“Congratulations to our multi-language learners and the families and educators whose support helped them make the gains that have earned their schools this recognition,” Holodick said. “This is a celebration of their entire school communities.”

 

 

2022 Recognition Schools

  • Academia Antonia Alonso, Charter School
    • School Leader – Mercedes Alonso
  • Austin Baltz Elementary School, Red Clay Consolidated School District
    • Principal – Amy O’Neill
  • Claymont Elementary School, Brandywine School District
    • Principal – Tamara Grimes-Stewart
  • Harry Eisenberg Elementary School, Colonial School District
    • School Leader – David Distler
  • Laurel Elementary School, Laurel School District
    • Principal – Matt Brady
  • Lewes (formerly known as Richard Shields) Elementary School, Cape Henlopen School District
    • Principal – Kimberly Corbidge
  • Pleasantville Elementary School, Colonial School District
    • Principal – Renee Griffith
  • West Seaford Elementary School, Seaford School District
    • Principal – Laura Schneider
  • Kathleen Wilbur Elementary School, Colonial School District
    • Principal – Elizabeth Howell
  • Woodbridge Early Childhood Center, Woodbridge School District
    • Principal – Dane Sears

 

 

2022 Schools of Continued Excellence

  • Blades Elementary School, Seaford School District
    • Principal – Kirsten Jennette
  • Rehoboth Elementary School, Cape Henlopen School District
    • Principal – Doris Person

 

 

More information about all National ESEA Distinguished Schools is available on the NAESPA website: www.ESEAnetwork.org

 

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006

District/Charter Educational Support Professionals of the Year Celebrated; One to be Named State Honoree

The Delaware Department of Education is honoring 20 educational support professionals for their outstanding work supporting their students and school communities.

 

“Educational support professionals are vital to the success of our schools. Their work often is behind the scenes and rarely gets the recognition it deserves. I’m honored to have the opportunity to celebrate these outstanding employees and spotlight the important roles they and the colleagues they represent play supporting our school communities,” Secretary of Education Mark Holodick said.

 

Now in its third year, the Delaware State Educational Support Professional of the Year (ESPOY) program recognizes outstanding service by school employees who provide direct or indirect services to students and their families. The Delaware Charter School Network also is invited to participate. Employees considered for the award include:

  • Paraprofessionals
  • Custodial staff
  • Secretaries
  • Nutritional staff
  • Information technology staff
  • School- and district-employed bus drivers
  • School- and district-employed bus aides

 

From those nominated at a building level, one educational support professional of the year moves forward to represent each district or the charter school community in the state program. Each district/charter network winner receives a $2,000 personal award from the winner’s district or charter school. The state program then chooses one person annually to serve as Delaware’s Educational Support Professional of the Year. State winners receive an additional $3,000 personal award from DDOE as well as $5,000 to be used for the educational benefit of his or her students.

 

The 2023 state winner will take over the title from 2022 Delaware Educational Support Professional of the Year David Thomas, computer lab/technology paraprofessional at Lake Forest East Elementary School in the Lake Forest School District.

 

A selection committee made up of DOE and non-DOE judges is reviewing the local winners’ state applications, and the state honoree will be announced at Delaware’s first ever statewide ESPOY celebration the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 7 in Dover. The event will be live-streamed to DOE’s YouTube and facebook accounts following the dinner portion of the evening; likely this will begin shortly after 7 p.m.

 

DOE is excited to recognize these outstanding professionals whose work is vital to students’ success.

 

The 20 2023 honorees are:

 

  • Appoquinimink: Claudine Strawbridge, paraprofessional, Cantwell’s Bridge Middle School
  • Brandywine: Meg Brown, senior secretary/registrar, Concord High School
  • Caesar Rodney: Jossette Threatts, service/instructional paraprofessional, George Welch Elementary School
  • Cape Henlopen: Brittany Hoeller, paraprofessional, Lewes Elementary School
  • Capital: David Hom*, operations technician, Office of Technology
  • Charter Network: Eric Winston, nutrition coordinator/facilities manager/assistant athletic director, Early College School @ DSU
  • Christina: Matthew Stearn, paraprofessional, Networks School for Employability Skills
  • Colonial: Joseph Davis, custodian, John G. Leach School
  • Delmar: Michelle Niblett, paraprofessional, Delmar Middle and High schools
  • Indian River: Arleth Avalos, paraprofessional, Indian River School District Early Learning Center
  • Lake Forest: Heather Hitchens, paraprofessional, Lake Forest Central Elementary School
  • Laurel: Ashley Pugh, secretary, Laurel High School
  • Milford: Lisa McQueen, paraprofessional/behavior interventionist, Lulu Ross Elementary School
  • New Castle County Vo-Tech: Michele Marra, administrative assistant to the superintendent, District Office
  • POLYTECH: Jodine Cybulski*, paraprofessional, POLYTECH High School
  • Red Clay Consolidated: Clare Lawrence, chief custodian, McKean High School
  • Seaford: Daniel Hopkins, chief custodian, West Seaford Elementary School
  • Smyrna: Pamela Hilliard, paraprofessional/behavior interventionist, Sunnyside Elementary School
  • Sussex Tech: Kim Speicher, administrative assistant to the superintendent, District Office
  • Woodbridge: Ricki L. Truitt, student services/guidance secretary, Woodbridge High School

 

 *Has left district employment; not participating in state program

 

Find photos of the nominees and learn more about the program here.

 

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006

Middle and High School Students Win Digital Mapping Awards

Six students took home $100 prizes each as Delaware’s winners of the Esri’s 2022 ArcGIS US School Competition.

Secretary of Education Mark Holodick congratulated the winners in an recognition event in Dover Thursday afternoon.

The winners with links to their projects are:

  • Eric Lewis, a seventh grade home school student (1st place for middle school competition)
  • Natalie Lewis, a sophomore at Caesar Rodney High School (1st place for high school competition)
  • Alejandro Lobo, a senior at Newark High School (2nd place for high school competition)
  • Wendy Santana Medina, a junior at Newark High School  (3rd place for high school competition)
  • Mariam Samake, a junior at Newark High School (Honorable mention)
  • Naina Sharma, a senior at Newark High School (Honorable mention)

Eric Lewis and Natalie Lewis also represented Delaware in the national competition, where Natalie received recognition.

John Dickinson Plantation Receives Award of Excellence

(DOVER, Del. — June 15, 2022) — The American Association for State and Local History announced today that it has presented a prestigious Award of Excellence to the John Dickinson Plantation, Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, for the project, “Search, Discovery, and Interpretation of the African Burial Ground at the John Dickinson Plantation.” The Award of Excellence is part of the Association’s Leadership in History Awards, the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation of state and local history.

Logo for American Association for State and Local History Leadership in History Awards

As part of the project, a concerted effort to find the burial ground at the John Dickinson Plantation began in the late summer of 2020. In March 2021, after utilizing research from surviving documents, aerial photography and archaeology, the African Burial Ground was discovered. Project development began with decisions on how to interpret this culturally sensitive and historically significant site. The goals for interpretation included delineating the historical context of enslaved peoples’ lives, recognizing African Americans in the cultural landscape and locating those with ties to the burial ground. Initial programs included public visitations to the African Burial Ground, a virtual visitation for school children, and culminated in an online panel discussion on Dec. 8, 2021 with Gov. John Carney, which can be seen here: https://youtu.be/P1JliA3uwL4.

The American Association for State and Local History’s awards program was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation and interpretation of state and local history throughout the United States. The Leadership in History Awards not only honor significant achievement in the field of state and local history, but also bring public recognition of the opportunities for small and large organizations, institutions and programs to make contributions in this arena.

The John Dickinson Plantation is located at 340 Kitts Hummock Road in Dover, Delaware. Dickinson, known as the “Penman of the Revolution,” was one of America’s founding fathers who wrote of freedom and liberty for all while holding human beings in bondage. The John Dickinson Plantation tells the stories of the Dickinson family; and the tenant farmers; indentured servants; and the free and enslaved Black men, women and children who lived, worked and died on the plantation.


The John Dickinson Plantation is administered by the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, an agency of the State of Delaware. The division enhances Delaware’s quality of life by preserving the state’s unique historical heritage, fostering community stability and economic vitality and providing educational programs and assistance to the general public on Delaware history. The division’s diverse array of services includes operation of five museums which are accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, administration of the State Historic Preservation Office, conservation of the state’s archaeological and historic-objects collections, operation of a conference center and management of historic properties across the state. Primary funding for division programs and services is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly and grants from the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, a federal agency. However, the contents and opinions expressed in the division’s programs and services do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Department of the Interior.

 

Contact:
Jim Yurasek
Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs
Phone: 302-577-5170
E-mail: Jim.Yurasek@delaware.gov
Web: http://history.delaware.gov