Board of Education Honors 17 for Distinguished Service to Public Education

The Montgomery County Board of Education will honor 17 individuals and organizations for Distinguished Service to Public Education during its 12th annual awards ceremony. The ceremony will take place in the auditorium of the Carver Educational Services Center in Rockville at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23. Five MCPS staff members are among the winners of the award this year. The Board established the awards to recognize and show appreciation for exemplary contributions to public education and to MCPS.

The award winners this year are:

Community Individual
Ana Brito, founder, Ayuda Especial
Thomas M. DeGonia, II, president, Justice, Law, Government and Society Cluster Advisory Board
Patti Twigg, PTSA representative


Community Group
Christ Episcopal Church of Kensington, MD
College Tracks
Padres y Alumnos Latinos en Acción


Business
Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc.
Montgomery County Teachers Federal Credit Union


MCPS Staff
Giles Benson, director, Department of Materials Management
Andrea Bernal, math teacher, Silver Spring International Middle School
James M. Douglas, science resource teacher, Sherwood High School
Gail Fribush, coordinator, International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme, Julius West Middle School
Karen Woodson, director, Division of ESOL/Bilingual Programs


School Service Volunteer
Pat Adam, Gaithersburg Elementary School
Anjan Choudhury, Walt Whitman High School


Individual Pioneer
Joan Karasik, children’s advocate and volunteer, Woodlin Elementary School
George B. Thomas, founder, George B. Thomas, Sr. Learning Academy, Inc. (Saturday School)