Teaching Awards

 

2006
The Career Growth Award
Matt Butcher

 

The 2006 Career Growth Award was awarded to Matt Butcher, English teacher and associate chair of the English Department. In nominating Butcher for the award, a colleague wrote “Matt Butcher stands out as a professional who has really come into his own, and one who exemplifies a genuine commitment to the tenets of this program.”

“He has found substantive ways to use methods in his English classroom so they truly foster learning, and he has made wonderful contributions to the department's ongoing dialogue about student needs and how to accommodate them.”

Butcher taught at Brewster from 2001-2003 and then took a year off for graduate studies before returning to Brewster full time. He is the English teacher on the senior Team Martin.

 

2005
The Excellence in Teaching Award
Raylene Davis

Raylene Davis

In nominating Raylene Davis for the Excellence in Teaching Award, a colleague wrote:  "Raylene Davis is the quintessential professional, grounded in best practices, modeling expertise and skill sets that colleagues will hopefully emulate. She is invested in the success of the ESL students, providing them with a positive experience at Brewster, going beyond the classroom to ensure that happens. She is a supportive team player and has a strong work ethic."

Davis, who has taught at Brewster since 1997, has a master's of Applied Linguistics from the University of Southern Queensland, a B.A. in Education from Adelaide College, and an extensive teaching background.

Davis received the Career Growth Award in 1998. She is the mother of Paul Algate '07 and Scott Algate '05.

Bret Barnett

Bret Barnett is in his third year teaching math at Brewster. He has a B.S. in mathematics from Harvard University, where he taught college level calculus for three years. While at Harvard, he earned five certificates for distinction in teaching from the University. Previously, he also was a student teacher at Cambridge, Rindge, and Latin in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In Barnett's nomination for the Career Growth Award, a colleague wrote, "He is better than many seasoned veterans in managing a classroom so that kids are really engaged. He goes many, many extra miles to support his students and offers extra help virtually every night. He is often sought out by students who are not even in his class and always makes himself available. He is a major resource to colleagues in teaching tips in math and a major resource to his team for help with technology."

About working with students, Barnett says "I want students to leave a classroom looking to apply their skills to the future; they are the inventors and thinkers that need to get us through the next three or four decades. Helping students think is a huge key. Most importantly, I want to show students that learning can be fun."

 

Barb Thomas

Barb Thomas has a strong track record for implementing program with real integrity. She is guided by program and policy and is completely invested in both her profession and Brewster. She has worked hard maintaining integrity while working hard to build her team. Her expertise in her subject area is excellent.

Barb is an effective advocate for her kids while at the same time holding them totally accountable and pushing them to reach for goals. As a team leader, she has always had an amazing handle on all the kids on her team, and helps guide the teaching team in doing what is truly in best service to those kids.

Barb is an instructional support teacher, team leader, and community life parent.

Jesse Lane

Jesse W. Lane has been a genuine boost to programs at Brewster. He began by revising the Writing Center curriculum where he showed how thoroughly he understands the teaching strategies and how well he can use them. He is a creative and dynamic curriculum writer.

He gives his best to his kids, holds to high standards, and engages kids in learning to take greater responsibility for their decisions and actions. Jesse has established standards for writing and quantitative and qualitative measures in student growth. He has consistently received high evaluations in the areas of teaching practices, student evaluations, classroom engagement, and student growth.

Lane passed his portfolio at the instructor level within the two-year period required.

Mr. Lane is the chair of the fine and performing arts department.

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Kim Yau

Kim Yau's attitude is consistently and genuinely positive and she is ready to take on whatever comes her way. She holds her team of students to high standards and the students meet these challenges. Team Yau students are respected and therefore respectful. This is due in part because Kim seeks out her students individually and consistently. Although only in her third year, Kim is the most advanced of coaches in completing curriculum and has presented to new coaches at Brewster Summer Institute for the past two years.

Kim is a team leader, IS teacher, and head of Brewster's field hockey program.

Julianne López

Spanish teacher Julianne López possesses great skill in diversifying curriculum to reach all students and is considered to be an excellent teacher. She goes above and beyond what is expected of her in all areas and is a good communicator. She has become a master in technology, curriculum writing, and cooperative practices. "Julianne is the consummate professional," states a colleague.

Julianne is the chair of the foreign language department.

 

Yu Lui

Since his arrival at Brewster, Yu Lui has made tremendous positive growth and increased his effectiveness in all areas of the Brewster curriculum, including the classroom, curriculum writing, and the dorm.

He takes his professional development seriously and works closely with department heads to ensure continued growth.

Yu's curriculum writing skills provide a great resource for the math department, and he has become facile with the Brewster program and a veteran of teamwork and community life parenting. He is exceptional at handling a tremendous range of students in the dorm.

He works in the background, quietly getting the job done. "Yu is the quintessential professional," states a colleague.

Yu is a math and science teacher and the community life parent in Kimball House.

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Christa C. Vitzthum

High standards, professionalism, excellence, and strong leadership are just a few of the attributes that describe Christa. She has been teaching Spanish at Brewster for eight years and for the past four years has chaired the foreign language department.

Christa is often praised for the support, guidance, and leadership that she offers to both her students and her colleagues. She is exceptional in all areas of teaching and her professional portfolio raises the bar on what is considered excellence.

Since becoming department chair in 1997, Christa has made significant contributions to and progress within the foreign language program ensuring quality and consistency in the use of best practices. She is a valued mentor who is always available and encourages her department members to maintain a positive outlook and to work hard to succeed.

Christa has led her department through the development of unified master benchmark projects and through the curriculum development process. She has a firm grasp of Brewster's pedagogies and has dedicated herself to the advancement of the Brewster program.

E. John Bishop

Since his arrival at Brewster in 1999, John Bishop has moved from being a novice chemistry teacher to a highly skilled and effective practitioner of the school's teaching methods. In addition, he is now a key curriculum writer for the science department and mentor for newly hired faculty. He provides a striking example of career growth in a new faculty member.

John is very committed to the Brewster program and best practices. His growth is the direct result of a very fastidious adherence to program tenets and his drive to use opportunities and feedback for his own professional development. John's portfolio is a model for other advancing teachers.

His students hold him in the highest esteem and members of John's sophomore teaching team, Team Cooper, respect him for the energy and effort that he gives to help his students and other faculty members.

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Bruce Gorrill Science Department Chair

Bruce Gorrill has been teaching at Brewster for the past 12 years. He is a senior master teacher and chair of the science department; he also has held the position of team leader. He has been a critical innovative figure in Brewster's evolution as a school. The term role model is used again and again to describe Bruce.

Bruce respects and nurtures the capacity of teachers, enabling peers to develop further expertise in subject content, teaching strategies, uses of technologies, and other essential elements in teaching to high standards. His student and peer evaluations ultimately reflect the impact he has on his effectiveness as a teacher and how his students are learning.

He is a leader in curriculum development, and his curriculum initiatives have become a model for other teachers. Bruce's expertise has earned him invitations to speak at conferences and numerous awards for outstanding accomplishments in the area of teaching and learning. He also has lead seminars at the Brewster Summer Institute for the past three summers and has worked as a consultant with The Endeavour Group® both in the United States and overseas

Peter J. Clark Science Teacher

Peter Clark came to Brewster in June 1998 with an undergraduate degree in biology from Colby College, where he worked as a student teaching and lab assistant in the science department. Peter is an excellent young faculty member and has accomplished much in his three years at Brewster. He spent this past summer writing 9th grade curriculum for the science department.

He brings great insight into department discussions and is very serious about being the best teacher he can be in every interaction he has with students. Peter does an excellent job at keeping his students engaged in classroom discussions, lectures, and projects. For Peter, it is extremely important that students understand both what is expected of them and what it is that they are learning. Peter is a strong believer in that by adapting one's teaching methods, student performance can be improved. He strives to reach each of his students by creating examples to which they can relate, regardless of how outlandish they might be.

On Team Cooper, Peter is a central and essential member. He knows the students — both the ones he teaches and the ones he does not — and has a good sense of what is needed to correctly match and support students in the Brewster program. His willingness to keep an open mind and take on different roles within the team has earned him high marks among his colleagues. His proficient knowledge of and enthusiasm for the use of technology in teaching and learning is an asset to both students and colleagues.

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Beth Man History, Team Leader and Director of Summer Session

Beth Man took full advantage of the career opportunities at Brewster as she began teaching at the graduate level after finishing graduate school at the University of New Hampshire. She was soon confirmed through the portfolio process at the instructor level in 1997; and two years later, the advancement of her skills enabled her to be promoted to the teacher level. She epitomizes someone whose ability as a teacher has grown tremendously through her effort, skills, and dedication.

She knows how programs connect to goals and takes on leadership roles to foster constructive change to allow Brewster to better deliver on its mission. Because of her demonstrated skills and qualities, Beth was appointed director of Brewster's summer session. She took charge of this program and created a dynamic and effective six-week academic and community program.

Adam K. Man History Department Chair

A senior master teacher, Adam Man is a knowledgeable, talented, and thoughtful history teacher and department chair. He set high expectations for himself and his colleagues in his department in the art of teaching, utilizing the Brewster School Design Model, working with others to aid in the development of curriculum, and creating unique teaching opportunities through international travel and movies to teach philosophy. Adam knows his discipline, he loves it, and he is able to coach others to do the same.

Sue Sydnor

In only two short years at Brewster Academy, Sue Sydnor was promoted from instructional support teacher to English teacher to team leader to dean of students.

With an undergraduate degree and graduate study in English literature and education, Sue came to Brewster in 1998 from Landmark College, where she was a resident dean and instructor in reading and study skills. She brought to Brewster a strong sense of purpose to all that she does while maintaining patience and calm where others just get frustrated. In addition to her teaching and curriculum writing responsibilities, for two years Sue worked with the recreational skiing program, with Judicial Board, and with the student activities program as a weekend duty captain. She was missed in the classroom, but had demonstrated her readiness for an administrative position. Through her excellence in other undertakings and her ability to see not problems but opportunities to improve, as well as her approach to problem solving, which always encourages others to be positive about needs for change, Sue took on the dean of students position with confidence and a sense of team to serve as an advocate for our student community.

Robert D. Carter

Bob Carter's educational background includes a Master's of Education from Keene State College with a thesis on Computers in the Classroom, his Bachelor's of Science in education from The Ohio State University, and other study at the University of Lowell and Plymouth State College. Accompanying these professional credentials, are 23 years of teaching physics, chemistry, earth science, and biology as well as proficient work at the Brewster Summer Institute, first as a student and then as a teacher.

Angela Keef

Angela Keefe received her Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders from the University of New Hampshire in 1993, and New Hampshire certification in Special Education in 1994. Angela came to Brewster in 1996 after three years as a special education teacher in Dover, NH, and Hampton, NH, respectively.

Raylene Davis

Raylene Davis has a Master's in Applied Linguistics from the University of Southern Queensland in Australia and a Bachelor's degree in Education from the Adelaide College of Advanced Education in Adelaide City, South Australia. Before coming to Brewster, Raylene wrote curriculum and taught high school ESL, math, physical education, dance, and health in Australia and Japan.

Eladio V. Moreira

Eladio Moreira received his formal education at the University Autonoma in Madrid, Spain, and at the University of Pais Vasco in Bilbao, Spain, where he worked for the National Literacy Program for Basque Language. Prior to joining the Brewster staff, Eladio taught in Spain. He also has experience in marketing and group dynamics and organization.

Maria A. Found

Maria Found holds a Master's in Science in Mathematics from the University of New Hampshire and a Bachelor's of Science in Applied Mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh Maria's math education and her experience in the workforce emphasize her analytical and leadership skills. She has been a math teacher at Brewster since 1995, and the Head of the Math Department since 1997. Maria, her husband, Matt, and their two children live in Avery House, where she is the primary dorm parent.

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About the Faculty Awards

Each year Brewster honors two faculty members for their outstanding efforts and accomplishments in one of two areas, Excellence in Teaching and Career Growth.

Recipients of the Excellence in Teaching Award are recognized for:

• Professionalism in all aspects of their endeavors
• Effort to assist core teachers in their efforts in support of their students
• Tenacity and drive to see that students are fairly assessed and assisting in the development of adaptations for them
• Consistency, fairness, and quality of action plans and great follow through
• Positive attitude in all interactions

Recipients of the Career Growth Award are recognized for:

• Productivity and degree of excellence in the curriculum they have developed
• High evaluations in five different classes from their director, peers, and students
• Demonstrated excellence in the delivery of best practice pedagogies
• Strong and valuable contributions made to all team efforts
• Making tremendous use of technology in curriculum design and delivery and taking advantage of the Internet
• Building an awareness and sensitivity within the community of the needs of the students in the English as a Second Language program