Christina Houstian, a social studies teacher at Broadneck High School,was named as the 2013-2014 Anne Arundel County Public Schools Teacher of the Year at the 28th annual Excellence in Education Awards, presented by AACPS and the Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce, and sponsored by BGE and Comcast, on April 10.
Erin Kolarik, a math and science teacher at St. Martin’s Lutheran School in Annapolis, was named the 2013-2014 Independent Schools Teacher of the Year.
The evening also included a recognition of outstanding business partnerships, with ShopRite winning Business Partner of the Year for its work with Northeast High School and Sunset Elementary School.
Houstian is the second Broadneck teacher in the last seven years to win the award and the sixth since the program’s inception in 1986-87. She will now represent county public school teachers as the school system’s nominee for Maryland Teacher of the Year.
Fifty-six educators from public and private schools were recognized during the event. Other finalists for this year’s Public Schools Teacher of the Year honor were: Susan Sheehy, a fourth-grade teacher at Millersville Elementary School; Jennifer Swiech, an AVID teacher at Meade Middle School; and Brad Wray, a social studies teacher at Arundel High School.
The other finalists for this year’s Independent Schools Teacher of the Year were Amy Brunner of Archbishop Spalding High School and Matthew Martelli of St. Mary’s High School.
Also nominated for the Business Partnership awards were: C2 Education; Annapolis Bowl, Greenway Bowl, and Severna Park Lanes; Little White Fashion Truck; and Watershed Stewards Academy.
The banquet is presented annually in partnership by Anne Arundel County Public Schools and the Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce. In addition to outstanding teachers, the banquet also will honor local business and community partners that have forged critical partnerships with schools across the county, directly benefitting AACPS’ nearly 79,000 students.
Other teachers honored at the event were:
- Lyniper Al-Os, Annapolis High School
- Kenneth Baker, Bodkin Elementary School
- Michelle April Ballenger, Georgetown East Elementary School
- Rebecca Bittman, North County High School
- Jane Bounelis, Arnold Elementary School
- Brad Bower, Crofton Middle School
- Alyson Bradford, Odenton Elementary School
- Shannon Brown, Jones Elementary School
- Julie Castillo, Lothian Elementary School
- Jamie Chestnut, Oakwood Elementary School
- David A. Christopher, Old Mill Middle School North
- Laura Christopher, Brooklyn Park Elementary School
- Julie Ciotola, Glendale Elementary School
- Carol Cox, George T. Cromwell Elementary School
- Michael Cservek, Severna Park Middle School
- Allison Ellis, Glen Burnie High School
- Damian Ferragamo, Old Mill High School
- Jennifer Figueroa, Chesapeake High School
- Rachel Fitzgerald, Marley Middle School
- Joanne Francis, Severn River Middle School
- Vanessa Gilbert, Freetown Elementary School
- Susan Grieve, Folger McKinsey Elementary School
- Lindsey Hammond, Quarterfield Elementary School
- Rose Catharine Hammond, Ruth Parker Eason Special School
- Linsey Haughton, Windsor Farm Elementary School
- Elizabeth Hewitt, Jessup Elementary School
- Jessica Howell, Manor View Elementary School
- Stacy Kearns, Corkran Middle School
- Eileen Keck, Richard Henry Lee Elementary School
- Dianne Lloyd, Davidsonville Elementary School
- Rachel Long, Wiley H. Bates Middle School
- Suzanne MacLeod, Linthicum Elementary School
- Jill Manning, Mary Moss Academy
- Robert Mauro, Lindale Middle School
- Cynthia McNeel Jacoby, Severna Park Elementary School
- Amanda Mays, Lake Shore Elementary School
- Patricia Medeiros, Tracey’s Elementary School
- Jennifer Suzanne Mobley, Mayo Elementary School
- Amy Mueller, Marley Elementary School
- Jane Newton, Southern Middle School
- Jessica Nolan, Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School
- Melissa Norwood, Southern High School
- Rebecca Pope, Crofton Elementary School
- Colette Preis, Central Special School
- Benjamin Thompson, George Fox Middle School
- Stacey Walczak, Seven Oaks Elementary School
- Sherise Webb, North Glen Elementary School
- Joshua Webster, Solley Elementary School
- Jacqueline Wilford, Northeast High School