4 Montgomery County Educators Win Excellence In Teaching Awards

SILVER SPRING, MD — Educators from one elementary school, two middle schools, and one high school in Montgomery County were named recipients of the 2020 Marian Greenblatt Excellence in Education Awards.

The Marian Greenblatt Fund, named after a former Board of Education member, recognizes teachers who inspire students to succeed. This year's awards were given to three Master Teachers and two Rising Star Teachers.

The Master Teachers each get $2,000, according to the fund's website. One of them will become the Montgomery County Teacher of the Year and will be entered in the Maryland Teacher of the Year competition.

The Master Teacher honors, which are given teachers who have five years of teaching experience in the county, were awarded to:

Rodney Van Tassell

Social Studies Resource teacher at Winston Churchill High School

Per the fund's press release, Van Tassell — who spent a decade teaching AP U.S. History —has transformed the class from one what was taken by 25 high-achieving seniors to one that includes 250 students, mostly freshmen.

One of his students said: "A 'good' teacher is someone who will teach you enough to pass the class, but a 'great' teacher, like Mr. Van Tassell, will make you love his subject and want to come to class everyday."

Click here to learn more about Van Tassell.

Inge Chichester

Content Specialist for the World Studies Department at Sligo Middle School.

Chichester helped to boost 7th grade literacy scores and reduce the number of students with academic ineligibility to levels below county averages, according to the fund's press release.

Principal Shauna-Kay Jorandby said: "Ms. Chichester is the definition of a warm
demander. She expects greatness from her students. She supports them as she holds
them accountable. She has a special magic in making them see and believe in their
own growth and capabilities."

Click here to learn more about Chichester.

Annie Moore

Kindergarten teacher at Farmland Elementary School

Marian Greenblatt Education Fund officials say Moore's rigorous instruction has taken her students from the 39th percetile for kindergarten benchmarks to the 70th percentile.

Dorigen Hoffman, the Farmland PTA president and a parent of two children who had Moore as a kindergarten teacher, said: "She is able to expertly foster a positive and joyful, yet calm and structured classroom, that encouraged an early reader to push herself and a slower reader to gain confidence."

Click here to learn more about Moore.

The Rising Star Teacher honor is given to an educator with less than five years of teaching experience and the ability to become a Master Teacher. A Each Rising Star Teacher receives a $1,000 award. The award was given to:

Susan Joanna Martinez-Mack

Science teacher at Julius West Middle School

Outside the classroom, Martinez-Mack sponsors the Green Team Science Club, which lets students participate in STEM-based activities and raise awareness about energy conservation and ecology. She is also working on getting Julius West certified as a green school, according to the press release.

A parent of one of her students said: "Ms. Martinez-Mack treats each of her students with the amount of respect that they deserve, even through their worst moments. She recognizes when students accomplish something amazing in her class, she makes learning fun, and she rewards students for being academically great."