Posted on November 21, 2007



* Brian Hull, principal at Powell and a 23-year employee of Fairfax County Public Schools, has been named the FCPS 2008 Principal of the Year and is the recipient of the Washington Post Distinguished Educational Leadership Award. Hull is one of 20 principals–representing the public school systems in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and private schools–selected by the Washington Post for the award.

A hands-on administrator who is widely acknowledged as an extraordinary leader, Hull celebrates ongoing positive student behavior in the Powell cafeteria with a program called Fine Dining, in which he dons a mock tuxedo apron, decorates the honored class’s cafeteria table with a tablecloth and candelabra, and personally serves ice cream sandwiches to each member of the class.

He recognizes faculty test coordinators with glittering plastic tiaras and gives oversized stopwatches to Kiss and Ride staff members. He rewarded staff members who voluntarily moved into the school’s Learning Oasis—otherwise known as trailers—with monogrammed water bottles. His positive attitude and genuine concern for students are hallmarks of his work, say nominators. (View press release.)

* Shelley Prince, counselor at Parklawn, has been named the winner of the Fairfax County Public Schools 2007 Bruce Oliver Leadership Award for an educational leader. This is the third year FCPS has presented the Bruce Oliver Leadership Awards, which recognize outstanding leaders in business and community partnerships.

Prince was lauded for founding a mentor program at Parklawn in 2000, which has grown from three mentors to 50 mentors today. Prince has invited members of the business community, local police officers, and teachers and administrators to serve as mentors to Parklawn students for extra academic, social, or behavioral support. 

Nominator Carolyn Pool, coordinator of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development’s (ASCD) MentorWorks program, says mentors and students play games, work on art projects, write in journals, walk around school grounds, read books, and get to know each other. “Several students with long-term mentors have learned special skills that they have then taught their friends; they have learned how to speak with confidence in front of large groups, and several have even won prizes for their winning essays on ‘What My Mentor Means to Me.’” Some mentors continue their relationships with the students through middle and high school and have gotten acquainted with family members as well, she adds. (View press release.)

* Sharon Aldredge, principal at Woodley Hills, has been named the Greater Washington Reading Council (GWRC) Elementary Administrator of the Year. 

Aldredge is praised by members of her staff for challenging students to reach their highest literacy potentials and to become lifelong lovers of reading. To encourage literacy at Woodley Hills, Aldredge consolidated classroom libraries into one well-catalogued book room that is accessible by all instructional staff members and makes it easy for teachers to select books for students with various reading abilities.

With her reading team and classroom teachers, Aldredge personally monitors the reading progress of every Woodley Hills student, ensuring that each student’s reading skills are at or above grade level. Aldredge also funded a bilingual library that serves both students and their families, all of whom are welcome to use the library to help improve their English skills. To further support literacy, she encouraged the formation of a spelling study committee whose members visited other schools and gathered data about the most effective ways to teach spelling. Information from that search helped strengthen spelling instruction at Woodley Hills. (View press release.)




* Jennifer Weingartner, music teacher at Little Run, attended OperaWorks 2007, an acclaimed two-week summer program for opera singers that is held each year on the campus of California State University at Northridge. Weingartner auditioned with over 300 applicants worldwide for a spot in the program. Now in its 21st year, OperaWorks is nationally recognized for its innovative approach in training opera singers.

She has also joined the Master Chorale of Washington for the 2007-08 season as a professional singer. The chorale performs a subscription series at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.





* Hemanth Thippeswamy (left), civil engineer in the Maintenance and Environmental Engineering Section of the Department of Facilities and Transportation Services, and Dale Taylor (right), coordinator of facilities management in the Grounds Maintenance Section of the Department of Facilities and Transportation Services, received the 2007 Cooperator of the Year Award from the Board of Directors of the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District (NVSWCD).

A cooperator is one who works in partnership with the district to protect and conserve soil, water, and related natural resources in Fairfax County. Their partnership with the NVSWCD benefits both organizations as well as students, teachers, and citizens in Fairfax County.

Thippeswampy and Taylor collaborated with the district on several significant projects to create school facilities that protect and enhance natural resources and provide active learning opportunities for students, such as a rain barrel initiative, storm drain education, low impact development demonstration projects, and outdoor classrooms.

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