In an educational world of tight budgets and fewer school days, a handful of Ventura County teachers were recognized Wednesday night for providing a creative environment for their students at the 2012 Impact II Awards Dinner on Wednesday.
Two Foothill teachers, Cherie Eulau and Melissa Wantz, were selected along with 24 others for Impact II Teacher Scholarships, an annual competitive grant program sponsored by the Ventura County Office of Education and the Ventura County Star. Those recognized ranged from kindergarten through 12th grade teachers, and each received $500 in recognition of an innovative unit they created for their classrooms.
“Good teaching is good teaching,” AP Government and Honors World History teacher Eulau said. “(We) want kids to make connections.”
In addition to the $500 grant that she received, Eulau was awarded with the Superintendent’s Award and an additional $500 for her Rock the Vote! project.
Foothill seniors in AP Government completed the Rock the Vote! project during a unit about campaigning and elections. The project incorporated party loyalty, interest groups, campaign financing, advertisements, endorsements, television broadcasts, newspaper coverage, social media, speeches and nomination conventions.
“It had a lot of components to it and a lot of student choice,” Eulau said.
All students fulfilled different roles in a mock campaign. While some were candidates, others were campaign aids, journalists, or members of polical action committees.
“I felt like I walked out of it with a lot more knowledge about how the candidacy and campaign works,” senior Tyler St. Germain said.
St. Germain was the democratic presidential candidate in Eulau’s sixth period government class.
“I learned a lot about my opponent,” he said.
The focus of the Superintendent’s Award was social media, something that was a large part of Rock the Vote.
“I was totally shocked,” Eulau said. “The students do all of the work with this unit.”
She plans to use the grant money for two teachers in Sierra Leone. Five hundred dollars equates to two million leones, an amount that can cover almost an entire year of education in the country.
Eulau and Wantz were both part of the June 2010 team that traveled to Sierra Leone to participate in a workshop for teachers, sponsored by Schools for Salone. Foothill’s partnership with Schools for Salone eventually led to the construction of school in Sierra Leone with funds raised for Foothill seniors for their Hero Projects.
English teacher and journalism advisor Wantz won the Impact II award for her Saving Winston! project. Ninth grade honors English students were asked to devise a plan to save Winston, the main character in the dystopian novel “1984,” by creating a product. The products were created using current technology, social media, and the students’ own ingenuity.
Three seniors in AP Literature judged the contest in which each team presented their plan to save Winston, and a championship round between classes was held at lunch.
“I was very impressed that even during a time of terrible budget cuts, increased furlough days, and overall austerity, that teachers are still creating imaginative and creative projects for their students,” Wantz said about the Impact II awards. “It reminded me that creativity doesn’t have a cost.”
