BBF Recognizes Daleville Teacher with ‘Excellence in Teaching Award’
Julian Ravenscroft, an algebra and calculus teacher at Daleville Jr.-Sr. High School, Daleville, has earned Ball Brothers Foundation’s 2014 “Excellence in Teaching Award,” an award that includes a $15,000 grant to the Daleville Community Schools. Two finalists—Adam Faulkner, an elementary fine arts and high ability teacher at Selma Elementary School, and Rachel Nixon, a chemistry teacher at Yorktown High School—will each receive $1,000 grants to be used in their classrooms.
“We received excellent nominations from a number of school districts throughout Delaware County, and each of the candidates demonstrated impressive, innovative approaches to teaching, ” said Jud Fisher, president and chief operating officer of the Muncie-based foundation. “Julian stood out for his ability to inspire and engage his students through authentic learning experiences.”
A five-member panel reviewed the applications which included personal statements about teaching philosophies and letters of recommendation from district superintendents, principals, parents, and even students. This year’s judges included Patricia Clark, associate professor in Ball State University’s Department of Elementary Education; Gary Pavlechko, director of teaching technology, in the Office of Educational Excellence, at BSU; Kate Love-Jacobson, vice president for training at High Performance Government Network, Fort Wayne; Dale Basham, former board member and current interim principal, Muncie Community Schools and retired teacher and school administrator; and Chris LaMothe, EVP for transportation and industrials of Element in Daleville and former president and CEO of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. Finalist candidates also participated in interviews and classroom observations.
The Excellence in Teaching grants program is open to K-12 classroom educators with at least three years of experience in any of Delaware county’s public school systems. Each district develops its own selection process and has the opportunity to submit two nominations. This is the second year of the annual program which awarded the 2013 “Excellence in Teaching Award” to Holly Stachler, a first grade teacher at Yorktown’s Pleasant View Elementary School.
“Education and student achievement have long been important to the Ball Brothers Foundation for its nearly 90 year existence” says Fisher, “This award gives us an important opportunity to recognize the valuable role that classroom teachers play each day in helping Delaware County students nurture the critical thinking and problem-solving skills, creativity, and ability to effectively collaborate that students need to be successful in the 21st century.”
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Established in 1926, Ball Brothers Foundation is an independent, private, family-controlled philanthropic organization that focuses its grant-making efforts on East Central Indiana with a particular emphasis on Delaware County. It maintains an online presence at http://www.ballfdn.org/.