Board of Education to Recognize Exemplary Contributions to Public Education at 13th Annual Distinguished Service Awards Presentation

The Montgomery County Board of Education will honor 16 individuals and organizations during its 13th annual awards ceremony on Tuesday, October 20, beginning at 6:00 p.m. The ceremony will take place in the auditorium of the Carver Educational Services Center, 850 Hungerford Drive in Rockville.

The Board established the awards to recognize and show appreciation for exemplary contributions to public education and to Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).

Award winners are:

Community Individual

Officer Marcus Dixon, who partnered with Capt. James E. Daly Elementary School to increase the school’s outreach to Hispanic parents and students.

Emily McDonell, a recreation specialist with the Montgomery County Department of Recreation, who has worked with youth through numerous programs, including the Safe and Drug Free Schools program and the creation of the RecExtra middle school program.

Community Group

Admissions Department of Montgomery College, which has reduced in-county tuition costs to MCPS graduates and formed a strong bond with Watkins Mill High School.

Junior Achievement of the National Capital Area, a non-profit community organization that is dedicated to educating students in grades K-12 about financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and work readiness through experiential, hands-on programs.

Montgomery County Students Construction Trades Foundation, Inc., which developed a dual-enrollment, dual-credit scholarship program between MCPS and Montgomery College that can lead to an associate’s degree in applied science.

Business

Deloitte, which has partnered with the Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education to appear at career days and to work with ninth grade students to understand the importance of their transcript, online identity, and financial literacy skills. Deloitte also has been involved with the annual Young Professionals Conference.

United Communications Group, a company that has distinguished itself by being a strategic partner with Gaithersburg Middle School

MCPS Staff

Karen Crawford, coordinator, Student Affairs Office

Susan Freiman, staff development teacher, Viers Mill Elementary School

Daric Jackson, assistant principal, Sherwood High School

Susan Marks, associate superintendent, Office of Human Resources

Linda Wanner, former assistant principal, Montgomery Blair High School

Bernard Warfield, facilities team leader, Division of Construction

School Service Volunteer

John Burley, Stedwick Elementary, Neelsville Middle, and Watkins Mill High schools

Mark Freedman, Monocacy Elementary School

Individual Pioneer

John William Smith, a Montgomery County Council education liaison who founded a major mentoring initiative.