Top Flight Faculty And Staff
On April 22, 2010, the first annual faculty and staff awards dinner took place in Founders’ Hall. During the course of the dinner, the traditional Dr. Charles McClain Award for Excellence in Teaching was presented. In addition, four new awards were presented. They included the Excellence in Coaching Award, the Excellence in the Arts Award, the Excellence in Administration Award, and the Outstanding Achievement Award.
The Dr. Charles McClain Award for Excellence in Teaching
The Dr. Charles McClain Award for Excellence in Teaching goes to the Kindergarten duo of Karen Washer and Chris Sayers. Children of kindergarten age still require a gentle hand. Yet, they also require an education that will prepare them properly for the first grade. Karen and Chris continue to demonstrate precisely the right balance as grateful First Grade Teachers Hillary Kaufmann and Terri Knowlin will attest.
The Excellence in the Arts Award
The Excellence in the Arts Award goes to Anne Jacobson. Our top priority for both this academic year and next is the growth of our enrollment. Our position has been that if we can get a prospective family into our school, we can enroll the family. Consistently, touring prospective families have marveled at the art that Anne’s students create. Her rotating displays throughout the school year inspire more than prospective parents. They have also gained the positive attention of our students, faculty and staff members, current parents, and Trustees.
The Excellence in Coaching Award
The Excellence in Coaching Award goes to Coach Kasye Beza and Coach Wally Luther. For the first time in school history, Coaches Beza and Luther landed four student athletes in the state cross country finals. They not only managed to raise a competitive team, but inspired non-running classmates to support the runners by attending meets throughout the season. Long hours both during the week and on weekends yielded state level results and great pride here at CIS.
The Excellence in Administration Award
The Excellence in Administration Award goes to Doug Sept. Longer term observers within the CIS community report that Doug has grown significantly since his appointment as Division Director under Dr. McClain. In the past year, Doug has demonstrated the skills of a truly great leader, including intelligence, vision, reliability, flexibility, calmness under pressure, modesty, concern for the people he leads, and dedication to both duty and family. We have accomplished the impossible since the end of Academic Year 2008-2009. In the absence of Doug, we would not have fared nearly as well.
Outstanding Achievement Awards
The Outstanding Achievement Award to Jennifer Anderson: With but a handful of forwarded e-mails and vague instruction, Jennifer resolutely converted the dream of a bilateral exchange with a prestigious school in England into a real possibility. Impressing her English counterpart with her intellect, worldliness and wit, she arranged a formal visit during which members of the CIS community were able to make their case for a bilateral exchange. Additionally, she has identified France, China, India, South Africa, and Ireland as viable opportunities for other exchanges. In short, she has significantly advanced CIS in terms of its Global Perspectives Program.
The Outstanding Achievement Award to Crystal Aulbur: When our outdoor classroom is constructed in the near term, we would be prudent to look back and thank Crystal. The project has been born both of her assiduous research into grants and her capacity to lead a disparate team, including parents, members of the faculty and staff, builders, architects, and artists—a collection of people whose individual talent might not have been so effectively leveraged in the absence of Crystal’s deft touch.
The Outstanding Achievement Award to Melissa Cook and Kara Rohr: The Junior Kindergarten has gone exceptionally well this year and radiates the feel of a well established program. Yet, it was established only this academic year and was born in an unusually hectic period during which the school transferred from two campuses to a construction site that was uninhabitable until just weeks before the start of the academic year. The smooth success of the program owes much to oversight of a seasoned Division Director and two highly capable, versatile teachers.
The Outstanding Achievement Award to Wade Curtis: Handicapped by the lack of facilities and by exceedingly small class sizes, Wade has nonetheless orchestrated a three season athletic program worthy of a school much larger than ours. The key seems to lie in his avuncular approach through which potential student athletes are encouraged as opposed to forced to participate. His consistently upbeat influence extends well beyond athletics and makes his a welcome face among students, faculty, staff, and parents.
The Outstanding Achievement Award to Kathy Doisy and Laura Knoesel: Despite a playground only a fraction of the size of the playground at our previous campus, stationary fitness gear delayed for months in its order and its installation, and the lack of both a gymnasium and playing fields for now, Kathy and Laura have nonetheless managed to provide a viable physical education program for our students. The character and patience they have displayed along the way have inspired all of us.
The Outstanding Achievement Award to Emily Edgington: So powerful was the performance of her student choirs in December that parents demanded to know why Emily was serving in a part-time as opposed to full-time capacity and how quickly her status could be converted to the latter. So popular has her instruction been among students that administration was forced to expand her schedule. Her passion for her art animates both her students and our school.
The Outstanding Achievement Award to Wally Luther: With an inspiringly cheerful confidence despite daunting unknowns, Wally undertook the formidable challenge of leading a team of student volunteers to South Africa for the purpose of hands on community service under difficult conditions. The team’s effort resulted in tangible gain for South African students and their school, a significantly enhanced global perspective for members of his team, and increased credibility for CIS, all without any mishaps along the way.
The Outstanding Achievement Award to Sue Anne Moore: In identifying the most fundamental of human needs, Dr. of Psychology Abraham Maslow devised his eponymous hierarchy. Included in the hierarchy are food, drink, shelter, and various forms of love. While Hy-Vee provides us food and drink and our new building shelter, Sue Ann provides us love. She does so through taking the time at each assembly to recognize students and members of the faculty and staff on their respective birthdays. In the process, she makes ours a more civil and collegial school, an invaluable contribution.
The Outstanding Achievement Award to Keija Parssinen: Averaging one percent annual growth over the four years prior to her arrival, the admissions program of which Keija took charge last year needed to achieve record setting growth in order to generate sorely needed tuition revenue. She achieved it in the form of an enrollment increase of approximately 20 percent, a bracing feat she is poised to repeat for the coming academic year. She has demonstrated to amazed onlookers the highly effective combination of her soft spoken personality and diligent work ethic.
The Outstanding Achievement Award to Ashley Sliger: Hired as Assistant to the Head of School, Ashley has actually performed as both Business Manager and Accountant, heavy responsibilities for a single individual. In fact, now that she is leaving us for Florida, she will be replaced by two individuals: a business manager and an accountant. While wearing two hats, Ashley has demonstrated a fighting spirit in confronting challenges head on and ensuring that the best interests of our school always come first.
