From Harford County Public Schools:
The top five finalists for the 2019 Harford County Teacher of the Year award have been released and are listed in alphabetical order below. The judging panel had a difficult and unenviable task again this year with many outstanding teachers nominated for the award.
Rebecca Martinek, North Harford Middle School
Science Teacher
Rebecca Martinek is an enthusiastic Biology teacher with 15 years of experience teaching middle school Life Science. Ms. Martinek has a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Notre Dame of Maryland University. She is passionate about generating engaging and meaningful classroom discussions and experiences for all her students. Ms. Martinek is a driving force behind students being actively engaged in science and participating in a schoolwide Science Fair. As a former scientist in a neurology lab, she brings real life experiences into the classroom to share with her students.
Paige Milanoski, Havre de Grace High School
English Teacher
Paige Milanoski is a 20-year veteran of the teaching profession, 19 of which have been completed in Harford County Public Schools. Ms. Milanoski has enjoyed being an English, Strategic Reading, and Drama I teacher for all high school grade levels. Ms. Milanoski earned a Bachelor of Arts in English, with a concentration in Secondary Education, from Elizabethtown College in 1999, and a Master of Arts Equivalency in Reading in 2009 after completing coursework at both Towson University and University of Phoenix. In addition to teaching, Ms. Milanoski actively sponsors the Havre de Grace High School chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions (S.A.D.D.).
Kristie Smith, Edgewood Middle School
Science Teacher
Kristie Smith began her career with Teach for America in 2012 before returning home to Harford County to teach science at Edgewood Middle School. Leading environmental initiatives at Edgewood Middle has fueled her passion for empowering students. Ms. Smith has served as Science Department Chair and member of the School Performance Achievement, Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports, and curriculum teams. Her accomplishments include being named Green Teacher of the Year, receiving a citation from the Maryland General Assembly, successful naming of Rams Creek, and presenting in the HCPS Ignite Showcases. Ms. Smith earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Salisbury University in 2010 and a Master of Science in Education from Johns Hopkins University in 2017.
Kathleen Thompson, Ring Factory/Joppatowne Elementary Schools
Gifted and Talented Teacher
Kathleen Thompson is in her 19th year as an accomplished fifth grade teacher and is currently the Gifted and Talented teacher at Ring Factory and Joppatowne elementary schools. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education in 2000 and Master of Science in Instructional Technology in 2005. She also obtained Middle School English Language Arts Certification in 2007, National Board Certification in the area of Middle School Generalist in 2011, and Administrator I Certification in 2014. She leads National Board Candidate Support Sessions and presents school- and countybased professional development. She won the HCPS Curriculum Award consecutively in 2017 and 2018. Mrs. Thompson is a very proud alumni of NASA’s Space Camp for Educators.
Dawn Zipay, Ring Factory Elementary School
Music Teacher
Dawn Zipay is a National Board Certified Instrumental Music Teacher at Ring Factory Elementary. She holds a Bachelor of Music from State University of New York Potsdam (1997) and a Master of Science from The College of Saint Rose (2002), both in music education. Her passion for students, music, and teaching extends throughout the county as she directs musical and variety shows, serves on the School Performance and Achievement Team, Scheduling Committee, and Music Program Committee. Outside of school, she is Principal Horn of the Susquehanna Symphony and Nova Ensemble and is an adjunct faculty member at Harford Community College.
This year’s Teacher of the Year Judging Committee reviewed and scored all nomination packets to determine a pool of candidates that participated in an interview with a panel of seven judges. The judges narrowed the pool to the top five finalists, one of which will be crowned the 2019 Harford County Teacher of the Year.
A surprise announcement of the winner will take place at the annual Harford County Teacher of the Year Banquet to be held on Wednesday, April 3, at the Bayou Restaurant in Havre de Grace. Again this year, the banquet is being provided by the Bayou Restaurant and HAR-CO Credit Union, with many outstanding gifts for our finalists donated by local Harford County businesses!
Why are all of the finalists white women? Where are the men and people of color?
The results were based on job performance not affirmative action.
So STFU you race baiting troll.
Speaking of that since the door was opened by Mongo. Did you notice that almost every other commercial seen on tv depicts interracial relationships. Did you notice that every home security alarm commercial depicts all burglars as white people. Did you notice that almost every addiction service commercial depicts only white addicts. Mongo are you the producer of these commercials. Just curious.
Maybe mongo can host the all African teachers of the year awards or the LGBT teachers of the year awards. People like this idiot cannot be appreciative that we have such good people educating our kids, instead he has to tarnish their achievements by suggesting that Africans and men were somehow discriminated upon because it is inconceivable that a few white women were superior to all the other candidates.
What a dickbag.
Does anyone know during the HCPS employment process if there are any personal history questionnaires that pertain to drug use are given to the applicant?
Mongo ask’s a good question…. where are the people of color, why aren’t they nominated? It’s the culture!
All I can say is…… STAR TREK SOCIALISM…. ( till the replicator breaks down )
GD!
What is this thing called “job performance” of which you speak? Mongo thought the result of every contest has to accurately reflect population demographics to ensure no one feels left out?
Mongo is confused.
It simply illustrates the racism issues in Harford County. Diversity? Whats that. There idea of diversity is everyone is white and some are fat and some are skinny! ROTFL
This is why a Good Reason to home school if your living in Harfordtucky.
Stop it right there! Let’s discuss what is the primary issue impacting bias. Yes there are still red necks and haters out there but the primary fuel for bias is perception and lack of accountability. What do people see nightly on the news to the greatest degree? They see black people acting poorly. This problem is not only ignored but the problem is rationalized and justified by the liberal media. If you want respect you need to earn it. I think Mongo really has a set of stones to make his innuendo in this day and age. The government and private sector is filled with unqualified people of color occupying management positions that even the most qualified white person could never hope to acquire. I have to admit that I too was surprised in today’s world that an unqualified person was not considered based on political correctness.
or better yet move your dumb, uneducated reverse-racist ass back to the shithole from which you came
Until you learn the proper spelling/usage of words, it might be best not to home school your children.
Congratulation’s on these Top contenders for Harford County Teacher of the Year! Keep up all the Great work you do for the students who take advantage of your teachings! As long as you are an inspiration in getting thru to the children/young adults you are making a huge difference in their future endeavors. Hats off to each of every one of you for your hard work, dedication and persistence. Thank you & Congratulations!!
Hardly job performance. Teachers have to seek this recognition spending hours upon hours building their portfolio to present to the committee and going through rounds of interviews. The best teachers do not seek recognition for their efforts. I don’t know any of these women, but my guess is they are pursuing this award for their own personal benefit and certainly not for their students. I am aware that teachers that have sought this recognition often coordinate with the students to ‘nominate’ them. Just another example of narcissism on display.
Ignorantly, I thought for years that “Teacher of the year” was not a self-sponsored title for those seeking the recognition.
It is kind of weird? I would personally not feel comfortable seeking my own recognition.
I thought this was a group of people that are associated with HCPS in some way and their task was to seek out what they thought were the best teachers and select multiple candidates without the candidates ever knowing.
Not a really attractive bunch.
I don’t think they are trying to win a beauty pageant. I think they’re vying for teacher of the year. If they are good at their job and actually are teaching, I don’t care what they look like. Doesn’t make them bad people. I’m sure every one of them is more than capable.
I wonder if any of them are being terminated due to budget cuts. I know someone who was told Friday they are out after a decade because they had the least amount of time. Most teachers give so much to be slapped in the face by these budget cuts. What about the kids that will now have to deal with 30 in a classroom? Great way to teach our future leaders Harford County. Don’t expect too much from our youth in the future. You have made sure we cannot raise well educated children. This county used to be chosen because of our education system to young parents moving in. Fat chance of that happening. Oh wait, that may be a good thing since you continue to allow developers to develop property in areas that the school systems are over crowed now.
Ms Martinek is on the list of cuts
Oh well. She didn’t “win” and likely was never going to win.
That would be plain bad PR, teacher of the year and then job position eliminated. They’d never let that fly.
There are already classrooms in HCPS with 30+ in them. We are headed to 40. That could mean over 200 students total for some high school teachers. I am sure this won’t be advertised to parents, but they deserve to know. Instructional approaches will definitely have to change.
“Teacher of the year” is absolutely for personal benefit, who the fuck would think otherwise?
I’m not sure exactly what each and every “candidate” seeks this out for, the least you could do with is add more self promotion to your linkedin profile. LOL
In all honesty though, if I was interviewing a career change candidate for hore from any county school and they brought up they were teacher of the year, that would most likely not matter at all so I’m not sure what benefit it could be to most non-school employers.