2023 Team Winners

Growth Category 

• Contributes to the development and/or improvement of programs, services, or curriculum; fosters staff growth, effectiveness, or professional development. Addresses existing systemic equity challenges to ensure access.

Brookfield Literacy Leaders

• Stephanie Carr, Anna Lyn Copeland, Donna Johansen Cross

Literacy shifts were prevalent throughout FCPS last year, but few were orchestrated as successfully as those that occurred at Brookfield Elementary School. The amazing Literacy Leaders at Brookfield embraced the Science of Reading and adopted change management practices to help teachers through this significant change in instructional practice. They made sure teachers understood what we were changing in literacy, why that change mattered at Brookfield, and how to execute these changes during their language arts block. The growth among our staff and students was unprecedented, and we couldn't be more excited to recognize this group! 

Data Team, Office of School Support 

• Luke Tonia, Katrina Tran, Marissa Troiano-Yang, Peter D. Wolf, Heather Ziab

The Data Team in the Office of School Support is composed of instructional and analytical experts and collaborators who position teachers, administrators, and division leadership with data metrics to direct immediate and long-term decisions towards student and systematic growth and achievement. Team members strategically use their platform to provide opportunities for division audiences to expand their data literacy capacity through modeling analysis structures and preparing timely student data reports to inform actionable next steps. Their impact grows the capacity of our division to prioritize equitable access and opportunities for students’ divisionwide.
 

Madison High School MAD Wings Team

• Heather Allen, Beth Blankenship, Loveisa Clark, Miguel Fernandez, Maria Frantzen, Maya Gueron, Anita Hartley, Virginia Keel, Janice W. Metz, Penelope Panzer, Michael Rath, Derrick Rauenzahn, Marit Rowland

The MAD Wings team came together for the express purpose of redesigning the end of the year calendar of activities at Madison High School. The team determined that Senior MAD Wings experiences should be preserved while also incorporating the FCPS-required Presentations of Learning for all students by the 2025-26 school year. The purpose of MAD Wings is for students to curate artifacts for their Portrait of a Graduate Portfolios. Specifically, evidence of their learning and growth. Students present to school staff, peers, parents, and community guests at the end of the year. All students are expected to participate in MAD Wings and will receive special recognition at graduation upon completion.

Impact on Others Category

• Develops successful partnerships and outreach to parents, businesses or neighborhoods; provides community services or service learning projects; displays outstanding responsiveness, customer service, or customer satisfaction. Demonstrates cultural responsiveness in building relationships and leverages impact to address equity.

Family Resource Center Team

• Amal Elsayed, Mary Beth Harrison-Cunningham, Lisa R. Milman

The Family Resource Center (FRC) Team represents the foundation and heart of family engagement. This team provides school staff and families relevant and timely resources so that families can best support their child’s success in school. They provide resources that are unique and pertinent to a family’s need; whether a family needs books, community resources, a consultation, or knowledge though a webinar, the FRC Team is there to help! The team sees true potential in everyone, and they work tirelessly with families to find ways to discover and leverage potential. 

Quander Road Security Team

• Ray Pincham, Marco R. Washington, Jeremy Wiles

The role of the Safety & Security Team at Quander Road is to maintain a safe and secure environment through collaboration with school staff, students, families, public safety officials, and community members to implement programs and enforce school safety and security rules. This team goes above and beyond those parameters, and provides guidance, support and caring to this unique student body. Their focus is on resolution, not discipline, and they carry out their duties consistently, fairly, and most often with a smile. Through this, they have built many strong relationships with the Quander Road students. 

Innovation Category

• Contributes to efficiency or effectiveness through cost savings, creativity, or problem solving; engages in reflection to craft culturally responsive solutions that eliminate barriers; develops new ideas that show promise for a broad impact to FCPS.

Annandale Terrace TV News Sponsors

• Jamiah Harrison, Ashley Ireland, Maria Pezzuti

These amazing teachers sponsor the Annandale Terrace Television Morning News Show Program (ATTV-News). The team consistently demonstrates dedication through collaboration to promote student involvement and success. They use this engaging, fun, and meaningful live broadcasting program to celebrate and provide resourceful information while encouraging building empathy and understanding for others. It’s a great way to start off the morning! This extraordinary team also celebrates and promotes cultural responsiveness through developing ideas to cultivate diversity, equity, and inclusion for everyone.  

Chantilly Pyramid Spotlight on Learning: Portrait of a Graduate Planning Team

• Anne Baker, Moonhee Doan, Meg Dombro, Kevin Feighery, Leslie Leisey, Mike Lis, Emily Phelan, Lisa Prillaman, Charlotte Quigley, Beth Robertson, Margaret Sisler, Kariann Stanton, Emily Texdahl

During the spring of 2023, a diverse group of educators in the Chantilly Pyramid planned and organized an event for their community that would bring the Portrait of a Graduate to life. The Chantilly Pyramid Spotlight on Learning Planning Team met regularly, on top of their regular job duties, to develop all aspects of an event that brought this community together to celebrate the pyramid’s amazing students. They also used this as an opportunity to provide a blueprint for other pyramids that are interested in hosting a similar community engagement opportunity. The entire community is incredibly grateful to the Chantilly Pyramid Spotlight on Learning Planning Team for creating this outstanding opportunity for those students to share their growth, this great work and to shine! 

On-Time Graduation Dashboard Team

• Sania Ahmad, Lauren Crispino, Stephanie J. Gray, Erik Healey, Charles Hom, Ryan Howell, Denise Lee, Joan Lee, Brendan Martin, Sara Masluk, Trent Middleton, Heather A. Thomas, Kyle Varholak Jimenez, Harry Wolin

This team consists of high school directors of student services and central office leaders from Information Technology, Instructional Services, and School Improvement and Supports. The team meets multiple times per month to engage in topics related to on-time graduation and dropout prevention. They are responsible for professional development, data monitoring, creation of resources, and school support related to student achievement and school accreditation. One of the tools they use to support this work is the On-Time Graduation Dashboard. The team not only helps schools use the tool, but they also gather feedback to help improve the tool, keeping the focus on student achievement. 

Portrait of a Graduate Presentations of Learning Innovations Team

• Christie Day, Courtney Klein, Nishi Langhorne, Jeff Lonnett, Abbey Miller, Mary-Lynn Robosky

This team of educators leads within central office across departments and across all our schools the work of Portrait of a Graduate (POG) student outcomes and the actualization of the FCPS Learning Model. This team collaborates with others to integrate POG through curriculum resources and programs, develops, and facilitates professional learning and is responsive to school needs and requests for support in staff development, classroom modelling, and facilitation of collaborative teams. More specifically, this team is leading the expansion of our PreK-12 POG assessment measure of POG Presentations of Learning across all schools in the division by the 2025-26 school year. 

Student Equity Ambassador Leaders (SEALS) Coordinators

• Raven A. Compton, Rob Kerr

Raven and Rob established this program through their innovation and problem-solving skills. They saw that student voice was missing in FCPS and took it upon themselves to establish the Student Equity Ambassador Leaders (SEALS) program. The purpose of this program is to amplify student voices and provide an increased understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion through leadership development, projects, and relevant experiences of high school students. Currently, every high school in Fairfax County Public Schools has a SEALs team and they are key stakeholders in the division to ensure equitable experiences for all. 

West Springfield High School Spartan Tech Team

• Betsy Fawsett, Julie Halse, Miriam S. Lynch, Jerry Mason

The WSHS Spartan Tech Team has invented ways to distribute technology seamlessly, track resources flawlessly, and provide training effectively. From setting up technology service drive-throughs (that are more efficient than Chick-fil-A!) to providing a "digital sandbox" for staff that made tech professional development fun, the Spartan Tech Team has helped integrate technology seamlessly, all with a smile. Not only have they made sure these tools reach our students, but they also have helped save thousands of dollars by creating effective ways to track resources. The Spartan Tech Team has helped build bridges to tomorrow for students and staff. 

Student Achievement Category

• Contributes to student success by closing the achievement gap through the use of culturally responsive practices, measuring progress using assessments, implementing interventions, or student engagement.

Frost Intervention Specialist Team

• Crystal Hurley, Hannah Warnick

In response to the needs of our students after the pandemic, Frost Middle School formed an intervention team to identify students in need of additional support in Math and/or Reading. Our intervention specialist team worked with stakeholders across the building to create a data driven plan that targeted students by name and by need in order to build their skills and support them academically. The team considered multiple external and internal data points and sought to reach students both during and after school. This has helped our students move forward more confidently in both math and reading, knowing these skills are necessary for continued student success.