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NKYEC presents Golden Apple Awards to region’s top teachers at Excellence in Education Celebration


One of a series

The Northern Kentucky Education Council presented Golden Apple Awards to the region’s top teachers at its Excellence in Education Celebration.

The Golden Apple Awards went to:

Donna Chuhran (Special Education K-5 MSD; Glenn O. Swing Elementary School; 20 -yr. veteran) A Special Education Co-Lead for the building and works with all teachers and support staff to meet the needs of her students. Donna receives continual Autism training and provides Autism resources for the entire district.

Tiffany Collie (4th Grade Reading/Math; White’s Tower Elementary School; 6 yr. veteran). She has a strong understanding of the math standards and goes above and beyond to engage her students. She may dress as a clown or turn her classroom into a fancy restaurant to reinforce learning. She attended the Ron Clark Academy and completed an action research project on math strategies and student MAP scores.

Sherry Craigmyle
(6th Grade Math; Maurice Bowling Middle School; 20 yr. veteran) Sherry has attended several math trainings including Thinking Strategies, Conceptual Building Blocks, Kagan Strategies and the Eight Mathematical Principals. She has served on SBDM Councils, PLCs, Adult Lighthouse Team and several other committees in her building as well as serving as Math Chair.

Debbie Fields (1st Grade; Southern Elementary School; 30 yr.veteran) Debbie holds a National Board Certification and is always willing to take on leadership roles in her school. She is an SBDM member, model classroom for a developing math program, leader on the Family Involvement Committee, serves on the Building and Grounds Committee and received Employee of the School award two times. 90% of Debbie ’s students scored at or above their winter literacy benchmark.

Gail Forsee (Grades K-4; Project Lead the Way; Owen County Elementary School; 27 yr. veteran) Gail leads by example giving her students activities that allow them to learn through exploration and discovery. Her students collaborate and cooperate to complete many challenging tasks. Gail is the School Technology Coordinator and also the Student Technology Leadership Program Coordinator.

Leslie Hagen (K-5 Art/Music; Donald E.Cline Elementary School; 17 yr. veteran) Leslie engages her students in center-based hands-on learning. She connects her students to new ideas by tapping into their previous experiences. She coaches students for the Northern Kentucky Honor Choir and is also very active in the PTO. Leslie has been asked to have her lessons videotaped to share with district teachers.

Jennifer Hickey (6th-8th Grade Health/Practical Living; R.A.Jones Middle School; 6 yr. veteran) Jennifer started her career at R.A. Jones as a student. This year she has earned her Teacher as a Leader MaED degree along with an English as a Second Language Endorsement and Educational Specialist Endorsement. Currently, she is working to complete a Doctorate degree.

Richard Ingraham (8th Grade U.S. History; Ockerman Middle School; 27 yr. veteran) Richard is known for his innovative teaching style. Having an in-depth understanding of the curriculum gives him the opportunity to give his students real-life learning experiences. Each year, Richard re-enacts the Civil War, recreates scenes from early American history using authentic drum and bugle and has both created and sponsored Ockerman’s Civil War Day which includes firing a cannon and a speech by Abraham Lincoln.

Melissa Insko (9th-12th Grade Dual-Credit Education Courses; Kenton County Academies of Innovation & Technology; 8 yr. veteran) Melissa currently serves as the Future Educator teacher and is a model for other education programs in the state of Kentucky. She is a founding member of the new Teaching and Learning Pathway for the Office of Career and Technical Education at KDE and has partnered with the College of Education at Northern Kentucky University to ensure that her scholars receive college credit for their learning, completing 4 introductory education classes before they graduate high school.

Pamela Johnson (3rd Grade; Mary A. Goetz Elementary School; 10 yr. veteran) Pamela decided to start her teaching career after two decades in the business world. Pamela ’s expectations for her students are extremely high but her positive energy and hands-on learning experiences help her students reach their goals. Throughout the summer she helps students in the 21st Century Grant Program, SHINE.

Brooke Massie (3rd Grade; Walton-Verona Elementary School; 8 yr. veteran) Brooke is known for utilizing a variety of resources and demonstrating creativity and innovation. She is versatile with technology in her classroom and uses diagnostic tools to pinpoint ways to differentiate instruction. She helped to co-create the school’s 1st Annual STEAM Night enlisting the help of NKU, CINSAM, NKY Makerspace, P&G and Duke Energy.

Wes Newsome (8th-12th Grade Spanish; Dayton Hig School; 4 yr. veteran) Wes teaches multiple levels of Spanish classes across middle and high school. As a member of the Tech Team, he helped prepare and write a $692,000 grant for blended learning and one to one technology for students. The grant was awarded to Dayton High School and Wes continues to help prepare the school for 21st Century learning.

Bill Poff(Media Arts; Highlands High School; 10 yr. veteran) Bill is described as a creative and innovative teacher. He expands the scope of his program each year. Recently, students mastered the operation of a drone and this lead to them assisting the District and local police department to research traffic flow patterns and eventually alleviate many traffic issues. Within his class, each student is expected to master the functions of all equipment needed for each project. Bill was also able to get his students on set and speaking to the right people at a Hollywood filming in Ft. Thomas.

Corrie Posinski (3rd Grade; Campbell Ridge Elementary School; 11 yr. veteran) Corrie maintains a data-driven classroom to help students set educational goals throughout the school year. Corrie has worked on various leadership teams including the CIITS Instructional Leadership Team, the Global Competency Committee, the Site-Based Leadership Team and she also served as a KTIP mentor for first-year teachers. She is currently a member of the Resilient and Ready by Design Teacher Leader Institute.

Tammy Roberts (7th-12th Grade Special Education; Ludlow High School; 17 yr. veteran) Tammy is a very service-oriented teacher who instills the passion for serving others in her students. She works with her students to learn practical life skills such as implementing a recycling and cleaning company within the school. Her students have won the Jeffersonian Award for Service Learning. She has gotten the school involved in ͞Outdoor Adventure Club͟, ͞Buddy Walk͟, Puzzling Panthers͟ support group for autistic students and parents, Special Olympics Art Show and Fishing Day.

David Sandlin (10th-12th Grade Career and Technical Education/ Math for Business and Industry; Walton-Verona High School; 22 yr. veteran) David is the go-to person for the Career and Technical Education Department. He engages students by bringing in many interesting guest speakers including ESPN, Disney, Bengals, Kona Ice, Chick-Fil-A and EMI Services. His students experience real-life simulations of the stock market and participate in the Capitol Hill Challenge where they compete against students across the nation.

Tina Zureick (2nd Grade; A.M. Yealey Elementary School; 25 yr. veteran) Tina engages both colleagues and parents in her teaching methods. Tina serves on several committees within the building. She worked with students to write, develop and produce video commercials that would be published and presented at the local public library. The 24 students then taught the remaining 75-second graders the process of creating the book commercials. Tina consistently encourages and inspires her students to be leaders in school and in their community.

This is part of series on the Northern Kentucky Education Council’s annual awards. Watch for more to come.


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