Last week, Campbell High School physics teacher Patrick Kaplo won the Milken Educator Award, an honor that comes with a nice chunk of change: $25,000. Kaplo, 36, is one of 53 teachers in the country who will receive the award this year.
So what does a teacher do with such a windfall? A new car? A trip to the Bahamas? I e-mailed Souhegan High School math teacher Marina Capen, who received the award in 2007, to ask what she ended up using the money for. Basically, Capen said the money hasmade life a little easier and allowed her to give to those need a little help.
Here was her response:
I have not ’spent’ the money…so to speak…at least not on anything tangible. I have been very aware of the people who have always supported me when I was in need and so I have been giving bits and pieces of money to others in need whenever I can. I find it more rewarding to be able to ‘give back’ and support others rather than spending it on ‘items.’ It felt a lot easier to get through the summer without getting small jobs as well. I was able to spend lots of quality time with my daughter as a result of winning that money (in the past I got tutoring jobs throughout the summer). I am trying to make it last. It’s not the money that makes you happy…it’s the time with family you get from not worring about it so much.
With the new school year underway, the Nashua School District has put together a calendar of the open houses that will be held at each school.
Open houses give parents an opportunity to meet their child’s teacher face to face and ask questions.
This story was just too bizarre to go without mentioning.
According to a column in today’s Boston Herald by Darren Garnick (also a correspondent for The Telegraph), the Philadelphia school board is set to vote tonight on a proposal to allow for an A&E reality show called “Teach” to be filmed in one of the city’s schools.
OK, a reality show about life in the [...]
The Eagle-Tribune published a story Monday asking North Andover, Mass. school and town officials about whether they were concerned about their new superintendent and business administrator leaving a $3.3 million shortfall in their previous school district.
The short answer? No.
“It doesn’t seem applicable to our situation here,” Town Manager Mark Rees told the Eagle-Tribune. “I’ve had conversations with [...]
Reading from a prepared statement at last night’s meeting to discuss the $3.36 million deficit, Board of Education member Robert Hallowell said “school district administration and the Board of Education failed in our duty to monitor and anticipate fiscal conditions - there is no way around that.”
Hallowell appeared to become emotional several times as he [...]
Monday night, the Board of Education approved the recommended appointments and salaries for principals and assistant principals for the 2009-10 school year. Here they are:
Approval of the Superintendent’s Elementary Assistant Principal Assignments for the 2009-10 school year as follows:
a. Tracey Cassady, Charlotte Avenue School and Dr. Crisp School
b. Karen Crebase, New Searles School
c. Patricia Flynn, [...]
Responding to today’s Learning Curve column about year-round education, a helpful reader pointed out that it was in the 1970s when Alvirne High School in Hudson experimented with this very type of format.
Teresa Stewart, class of 1975, wrote: “Alvirne High School had a year round program in the 70’s. We went year round due to over crowding, the [...]
Over the past year there has been much debate in Nashua about whether separating students by ability in the middle schools, a process referred to as leveling or tracking, is appropriate.
It seems Nashua isn’t the only district having this conversation.
According to an article in today’s New York Times, the Stamford, Conn. school district, a district similar in size and demographics to Nashua, has decided to deviate [...]
About 50 district administrators will be attending a leadership workshop later this month hosted by the Center for Secondary School Redesign.
The title of the workshop is “Change Leadership,” which, according to the district, will “focus on what must be done to enhance both infrastructure/system and leadership capacity to ensure the success of any new initiative.” Funding [...]
When the city gets a new superintendent, it’s not unusual for that person to come into the job without any previous experience running a school district.
In fact, it’s the norm.
Last night, the Board of Education named former business administrator Mark Conrad as its choice for superintendent. Conrad, currently chief financial officer for the Bedford schools, said he [...]
Michael Brindley has been covering education for The Telegraph since 2004. This blog is an extension of his weekly column, The Learning Curve, which appears on Thursdays. The blog covers education topics in Nashua and the surrounding area, as well as statewide education news. Michael Brindley can be reached at (603) 594-6426 and mbrindley@nashuatelegraph.com.
