Horace Mann Magazine - Fall 2009 - (Page 26)

News of the School news of the school | Hor ace Mann ScHool JoUrnal The award is coordinated at Horace Mann through the School’s office of curriculum and professional Development. awards were presented to both the finalists and the nominees at a dinner in their honor on May 13, 2009. attending were Tina and David bellet, the Heads of each Division at Horace Mann, and the awardees’ family members and friends, including colleagues from their departments and grade levels. The Process of Teaching Horace Mann School Board Chair Steven M. Friedman ’72, Dr. Jeff Weitz, David Bellet, Tina Bellet, Heather Cahill, and Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly celebrate the “Bellet Teaching award.” Dr. Jeff Weitz, Heather Cahill Honored with Tina and David Bellet Teaching Excellence Award “It’s about the students.” he above quote may seem an aboutface way of describing an award that honors teachers, but it is an apt way to characterize the focus that the teachers being honored bring to their work. These were also the words Dr. Jeff Weitz used in summarizing his “teaching philosophy” in his statement to the 2009 Tina and David bellet Teaching excellence award committee. Dr. Weitz, Upper Division physics teacher, and Heather cahill, second-grade teacher in HM’s lower Division, were honored with the 2009 “bellet award”, which annually recognizes outstanding teaching throughout Horace Mann. The award was established in 2001 by Tina and David bellet, parents of Suzanne ’96 and Stacey ’00 bellet. also honored this year were bellet nominees Marines arroyo, an outstanding talent who teaches the nursery Division’s Kindergarten class; neil berniker, a beloved —Dr. Jeff Weitz, quoted at the Tina and David Bellet Teaching Excellence award ceremony, May 13, 2009 t HM physical education teacher and coach, with 45 years of teaching experience at Horace Mann; Katie Diaz, an inspiring fourthgrade teacher; lynne Hirschhorn, mathematics teacher and dean in the Middle Division known for her patient way of explaining math and for her sagacity in advising students; and Upper Division english teacher, independent Study coordinator, and Women’s issues club advisor and author Gerri Woods, who has been a powerful force in both the HM classroom and community. Eight Years of Bellet Teaching Awards candidates for the bellet award are nominated by alumni and faculty colleagues. Tina bellet, a former teacher, is a Trustee emeritus at Horace Mann School who has chaired the board’s education committee. She is also a Trustee at lesley University in boston, where she earned her masters in teaching. David bellet is a Trustee of the Foundation for Teaching economics. in honoring the lower Division’s Heather cahill and the Upper Division’s Dr. Jeff Weitz it was abundantly clear that Horace Mann School deeply values the educational experiences of both its youngest learners and its most advanced students. Throughout the bellet award’s eight-year history nominated teachers have reflected that the award process has benefitted their teaching by calling upon them to reexamine their own teaching goals and methods. Teachers and administrators who serve on the committee also gain from the opportunity their participation affords them to observe the classrooms of their colleagues in each division of Horace Mann, and to acquire a deeper understanding of HM as a whole. reflecting on his approach to teaching Dr. Weitz stated: “it’s about the students. anything else i can say is just amplification. When people ask me what i teach, i don’t say physics. i say ‘students.’” Dr. Weitz also offered a “top three” list of rules he has made for himself in the classroom. number one was, “accept the students as they come to me.” number two? “Try to connect with each student during class.” Though separated by at least eight grade levels, and several buildings on the HM campus, these guidelines were not very different than those Heather cahill applies in teaching her second graders. “How does one get children excited to learn?” cahill asked in her statement to the bellet committee. “This is a question i think about every day. as i write my lesson plans, as i lay in bed at night, as i enter the classroom each morning, i am thinking about what i can do to reach each of my students, to inspire them, to excite them. each one of my students is so incredibly unique that this is not always an easy task. i try to incorporate 26 Horace Mann Magazine Fall 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Horace Mann Magazine - Fall 2009

Horace Mann Magazine - Fall 2009
Contents
Letters
Greetings from the Head of School
Greetings from the Director of Development
Enter Laughing: the Humor of Horace Mann School
News of the School
Alumni Council Corner
Bookshelf
Class Notes
Memorials
Philanthropy and You

Horace Mann Magazine - Fall 2009