Susan Cullen Named 2009-10 Wicomico Teacher Of The Year

Delmar Elementary's Susan Cullen is Named the 2009-10 Wicomico Teacher of the Year

Susan Cullen, a third-grade teacher at Delmar Elementary School, was recognized for her outstanding work in the classroom when she was named 2009-10 Wicomico Teacher of the Year March 19.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. John Fredericksen and Board of Education President Robin H. Holloway announced Cullen’s honor at the end of the annual Wicomico County Teacher of the Year Awards Banquet. The 26th annual Wicomico Teacher of the Year Banquet was held at The Commons at Salisbury University with more than 215 people in attendance. "My rewards in being an educator include the 'lightbulb' moments and smiles of self-confidence I see in students when they comprehend a concept," wrote Cullen in her Teacher of the Year writing prompt. "Also, having parents and grandparents partner with me in their child's education. When the year ends, they make a point to thank me for my professionalism, my love of teaching, and for the love and support I have given their family.

Wow! What a humbling experience and a blessing." As Teacher of the Year, Cullen will represent Wicomico County's more than 1,229 teachers. Her nomination for Wicomico Teacher of the Year came from a parent who said, "This teacher inspires students to learn by giving her students partners while reading so they are more interested," and who praised Cullen for being kind, patient and fun while guiding students in learning each day and encouraging them to love reading.

"The homework that the teacher gives is brilliant," said the parent. The homework asks good questions and sets up clear expectations so that as students read and study they work on concentration, recall of important facts, interpretation, learning and using new words, and can even do a creative illustration as part of their answer. The parent called Mrs. Cullen's homework technique "subtle but brilliant."

Wicomico's new Teacher of the Year will begin her year in style, arriving at Delmar Elementary School at 8:45 a.m. Friday chauffeured in a classic 1949 Buick provided for the occasion by Wicomico music teacher and auto enthusiast Buck Burton. Two assemblies will be held in her honor, starting with one at 9 a.m. Cullen will be featured, along with this year's 30 other semifinalists, in a "Working Together for Children" Teacher of the Year special on PAC 14. Later this year, Cullen will represent Wicomico County Public Schools in the Maryland Teacher of the Year contest.

Wicomico is proud to have two former Maryland Teachers of the Year, Bonnie Walston and Aaron Deal, working in its school system on behalf of students. Susan Cullen, 2009-10 Wicomico Teacher of the Year Cullen received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Salisbury University in 1995. She has taught for nine years, including the past four years in Wicomico schools. She was nominated for Wicomico Teacher of the Year while teaching at West Salisbury Elementary in 2005-06, and twice while teaching at Delmar. She was inducted into the Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society at SU and the Phi Theta Kappa Academic Honor Society at Wor-Wic Community College.

Students in Mrs. Cullen's classroom are accustomed to having instructional technology as part of their daily lessons. "I have become more literate in technology and use it every day in my classroom to meet all learning styles," she said. Technology helps students learn, and its important that her third-graders are trained "in the use of technology that they will need as they grow in this 21st Century." She takes on many extra duties at school, including membership on the West Salisbury Elementary Social Committee and Delmar's Multicultural, Social, Staff Advisory and School Leadership committees, and participation in the Perks for Parents Program at Delmar and PTA. She assisted in creating a Maryland School Assessment (MSA) class to help parents understand the expectations of MSA. She has served as a Destination ImagiNation assistant coach. Cullen is a member of the Wicomico County Education Association and the Maryland State Teachers Association.

Outside of school, she has served at her church as assistant high school Sunday School teacher, volunteer nursery attendant and greeter ministry leader; and has been a parent volunteer for the West Salisbury Little League, Pop Warner Cheerleading and the Eastern Shore Ballet Theatre. Wherever Cullen has lived and worked, she has devoted herself both to her students and to her community. She was an Army family team building instructor and a Family Readiness Group leader at Fort Sill, and elementary curriculum planner and Vacation Bible School teacher at First Baptist East in Lawton, Okla. She received the Molly Pitcher Volunteer Service Award in Fort Sill, Okla. While living in Tennessee, she was a Family Readiness Group volunteer at Fort Campbell, Ky., and an intermediate Sunday School teacher, nursery director, and member of the Praise and Worship Team at Woodlawn Church of the Nazarene.

"My husband's military career has afforded me many opportunities. At various U.S. Army installations and surrounding communities, I have taught prekindergarten, 1st and 5th grades," Cullen said. "Some of my accomplishments were creating a program to teach parents English as a second language, chairing the science department, and working with a diverse group of children from the military, agricultural and Native American communities."

Top Teachers Thirty-one semifinalists were selected to complete a writing prompt and undergo an interview with a blue-ribbon judging panel of former Wicomico teachers of the year. Based on results from the interview and writing exercise, the judging panel chose a finalist to represent each school level. Finalists were, in addition to Cullen for the intermediate level, were Kathy Nottingham, prekindergarten teacher, Wicomico Early Learning Center (Primary); Kimberly Reddish, English teacher, Mardela Middle and High (Middle); and Joe Showacre, Collision Repair teacher, Parkside High School Career & Technology Education (High School). The other semifinalists for Wicomico Teacher of the Year were: Primary: Heather Charlton, Grade 2 teacher, Prince Street Elementary School Debbie Karten, Grade 2 teacher, Westside Intermediate School Sheila Edwards, Prekindergarten teacher, Pinehurst Elementary School Beverly Jackson, Kindergarten teacher, Westside Primary School Nicole Rittling, Physical Education teacher, Willards Elementary School Terri Goldman, Special Education teacher, Delmar Elementary School Debbie Krauss, Grade 1 teacher, Charles H. Chipman Elementary School Brenda Tatem, Kindergarten teacher, Beaver Run Elementary School Kerri Corron, Kindergarten teacher, West Salisbury Elementary School Susan Jones, Grade 1 Reading teacher, Fruitland Primary School Tara Parsons, Grade 2 teacher, Pemberton Elementary School Intermediate: Lily Green, Grade 4 Math teacher, East Salisbury Elementary School Christy Briggs, Grade 5 Reading/Language Arts teacher, Fruitland Intermediate School Susan Lagueux, Special Education teacher, Glen Avenue Elementary School Alison Dunn, Grade 5 Reading teacher, North Salisbury Elementary School Audra Phippin, Title I Math teacher, Northwestern Elementary School Ginger Rizzi, Music teacher, Pemberton Elementary School Bertha Whittington, Special Education teacher, Pinehurst Elementary School Elaine Tilghman, Physical Education teacher, Prince Street Elementary School Jennifer Fenzel, Grade 5 Math teacher, Westside Intermediate School Linda Lane, Grade 4 Math teacher, Pittsville Elementary and Middle School Middle: Tara Elliott, RELA (Reading/English/Language Arts) teacher, Salisbury Middle School Ken Dasher, Band Director/Music teacher, Pittsville Elementary and Middle School Debbie Holland, Grade 6 Math teacher, Wicomico Middle School Krista Perdue, Choral Director/Music teacher, Bennett Middle School High: Jane Moore, Special Education teacher, James M. Bennett High School Laura Owens, Special Education teacher, Mardela Middle and High School All 132 Teacher of the Year nominees were invited to attend the banquet, which spotlights not just the year's most outstanding teacher, but all Wicomico educators who demonstrate outstanding leadership, a commitment to excellence, dedication to teaching the children of the community, and professional achievement, said Karen Leimann, coordinator of the Teacher of the Year Program.

Friend of Education Each year at the Wicomico County Teacher of the Year Awards Banquet, Wicomico also honors a "Friend of Education" who has generously supported Wicomico schoolchildren and schools. This year’s recipient of the “Friend” Award was the Fruitland Community Center, represented by Mary Gladys Jones and Alexis Dashield. Mrs. Jones, a retired educator, has been involved with the Fruitland Community Center since 1982. In 1983, as the center's director, she co-founded its after-school tutorial program for students in the Fruitland area. When financial support for the program waned in 1991, she approached her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, about adopting the program. The Ivy AKAdemy was born and continues to serve Fruitland children. "For almost three decades, Mrs. Jones has committed herself to the children of Fruitland, giving of her time, talents, resources and academic expertise," said Karen Leimann, coordinator of the Wicomico Teacher of the Year Program.

Mrs. Dashield was an employee of Salisbury University and a resident of Fruitland when she became acquainted with the Fruitland Community Center because her youngest son, Julian, was struggling to pass first grade. Mrs. Jones began tutoring Julian, and in less than six months he had caught up with his classmates and went on to achieve academic success. He is now an engineer at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. After this personal experience, Mrs. Dashield decided to join Mrs. Jones in dedicating herself to helping the children at the Fruitland Community Center. She has mentored parents, provided services to at-risk and underprivileged children, advocated for children, and brought in other volunteers to continue the important work of the Fruitland Community Center.

"Together, Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Dashield advocate for the children of the Fruitland Community Center and provide their students and parents with opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to them," Leimann said. "Many times both of these dedicated women have opened their pocketbooks to pay utility, maintenance, and resource bills to keep the center open. They have made the Fruitland Community Center an environment in which students thrive." Business Sponsors for the Wicomico Teacher of the Year Program The Wicomico County Teacher of the Year Banquet is sponsored or supported by a number of generous businesses and organizations.

Gold Level: CareFirst, PNC Bank Silver Level: W. R. McCain & Associates, Salisbury University Alumni Association

Bronze Level: Becker Morgan Group, Chesapeake Water Testing Labs, Davis, Bowen, & Friedel, Delmarva Dempseys, Inc., The Honorable Page Elmore & Dr. Carolyn Elmore, Mr. & Mrs. Charles Goslee, Princess Anne Chapter of The Links, Inc., Wicomico Retired Educators’ Association

In-kind Donors: A Friend, Barb’s Gift & Hallmark Shop, Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Blockbuster Video, Bubba’s Place, Buck Burton, Chick-fil-A, Clear Channel Outdoor, Dell Computers, Delmarva Broadcasting, Delmarva Shorebirds, Eastside Deli, Educational Supplies, Inc. , Fancy Fingers, G. B. Heron & Co., Instructional Resource Center, Joseph Lauren Hair Classics, Kitty’s Flowers, Kuhn’s Jewelers, La Tolteca Mexican Restaurant, Nutters Crossing Golf Club, Old West Steakhouse, Olive Garden, PAC 14, Plaza Tapatia, Red Door Sub Shop, Rise Up Coffee, Route 12 Pizza, Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce, Salisbury University, The Daily Times, University Car Wash, Viva Espresso, Wicomico County Education Association, Zia’s Italian Grill