3 NSCSS Outstanding Student Teacher Award nominations as of July 29, 2010, 9:07 pm.

Congressional District:	2nd District
						Angela Bosak Millard South HS: 149 Q ST. Omaha, NE 68137 402-715-8268: | abosak@mail.unomaha.edu High School | American Hist, 9th grade; World Geograpy, 10th gra Nominated by: Dan Whipkey, UNO Student Teacher Supervisor | dawhipkey@yahoo.com Support: Angela taught World Geography and American History classes in the 2009 Spring semester. She worked extremely well with both of her cooperating teachers. Because the school follows a block scheduling format, students are in each class for ninety minutes. It takes comprehensive planning and a variety of motivating learning activities to ensure that students are on task during the lengthy periods. Angela’s lesson plans and class activities were always complete and very extensive. Students were kept engaged by her creative, interactive, resourceful lessons and her very energetic teaching style. Her love of the subject matter was apparent and her enthusiasm rubbed off on her students. Angela’s effective classroom management skills and the respect she demonstrated for her students contributed to a safe and comfortable learning environment. She applied outstanding professional judgment in the classroom. Her excellent work ethic, mature demeanor, initiative, knowledge of content and professional dedication are praiseworthy qualities.
Congressional District:	2nd District
						Aric Butterfield Millard West High School: 5710 South 176th Avenue Omaha, Nebraska 68135-2268 402-715-6000: | aricbutterfield@gmail.com High School | World Geography, grade 10 Nominated by: Dr. Randy Bertolas, Geography, Wayne State College | raberto1@wsc.edu Support: I am writing this letter to nominate Aric Butterfield (402-649-6239, aricbutterfield@gmail.com) for the 2010 NSCSS Outstanding Student Teacher Award in the Second Congressional District. Mr. Butterfield served as a student teacher during the spring 2010 semester at Millard West High School under Ms. Stacy Kastanek. I have known Mr. Butterfield since 2005 as a student, as one of my Honors advisees, as an officer for one of my honor societies, from field trips, conference attendance, and through many informal conversations. It is a distinct pleasure to write this letter on his behalf. In my 30 years as a teacher at both the high school and college level, Aric was one of the finest students I ever taught. His academic work allowed him to graduate summa cum laude from Wayne State College and, in his final year, he was named by the social sciences faculty as the Outstanding Student in Social Studies Education for 2009-10. Outside the classroom, Aric kept very busy with campus organizations and activities. For instance, he was inducted into membership in no less than five of the most prestigious honor societies on campus including geography, history, and social sciences. In addition, he is an active scholar who has attended several student conferences. Moreover, he has served as President of our campus geography honor society and he was also selected to be a student worker at the 2009 Nebraska State Geographic Bee. Aric honed his skills at classroom management by participating in an APL training seminar. Today, his classroom management style is characterized by strong, well-taught, and reinforced procedures. At Millard West, Aric was able to provide structure in the form of timed tasks and well defined directions and instructions. In this way, he avoided most classroom management problems before they could occur. Long on patience and slow to rattle, Aric’s maturity and outgoing nature make him particularly well suited for the responsibilities involved in teaching and leading young people. Aric’s teaching strategy revolves heavily around incorporating current events, popular music, movies, and television into his classroom and connecting them to the course content. In this way, he makes an immediate and profound link between the material and the students’ personal interests, a connection which can have an enormous impact on their course focus and, ultimately, their academic performance. In addition, Aric found the fairly simple but often underutilized ‘think, pair, share’ technique to be very effective. After posing a higher-level question and then pairing up students, he became adept at walking around the room and listening to student responses, correcting poor answers and reinforcing good ones as he went. In his student teaching, Aric often addressed issues of diversity and equity by directly including them in his curriculum. While Millard West is not very ethnically diverse, Aric was assigned to teach World Geography where the opportunity to address diversity arises every day. He became skilled at enabling his classes to examine ‘The Other’ by constantly reminding students that they were simultaneously part of that group in the eyes of different people around the world. While learning about regions of the world and the peoples that inhabit them, Aric’s students were constantly exposed to other cultures. Often, misconceptions or ethnocentrism would arise during his class, allowing for excellent teachable moments in which he guided students toward an understanding and appreciation of diversity. While student teaching, Aric was involved in the Professional Learning Community at Millard West in which instructors would meet and discuss the course curriculum, assessments, and other issues involving Social Studies and Geography. This gave him an opportunity to interact with experienced Social Studies teachers, and also to offer his own perspective and knowledge regarding the delivery of instruction in the World Geography classes he taught. I believe that Aric Butterfield has great promise as a secondary level social studies teacher. His college teachers and education supervisors raved about him. The work he produced for me was always first-rate, insightful, and well thought out. His leadership and participation skills are excellent, as is his sense of volunteerism. Within our social sciences building, Aric was well liked and highly respected by both students and faculty in all disciplines. In sum, Aric Butterfield is a gifted individual and a well-trained educator at the start of what will be an outstanding career. He is worthy of strong consideration for the 2010 NSCSS Outstanding Student Teacher Award in the Second Congressional District. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require further information. Sincerely, Randy Bertolas, Ph.D. Professor of Geography and Chair, Department of History, Politics, and Geography at Wayne State College Coordinator, Geography Educators of Nebraska
Congressional District:	2nd District
						Lindsey Sullivan Millard West HS: 5710 S 176th Av Omaha, NE 68135 402-880-9913: | lsullivan@mail.unomaha.edu High School | 11th grade Am Hist Nominated by: Dan Whipkey | dawhipkey@yahoo.com Support: It is my pleasure to recommend Lindsey Sullivan for the 2010 outstanding student teacher award. Lindsey student taught Honors American History at Millard West High School for the fall semester of the 2009-10 school year. The school follows a block scheduling format which requires effective teachers to develop comprehensive planning and a variety of motivating learning activities to ensure that students are on task during the lengthy periods. Lindsey’s lesson plans and class activities were always creative, interactive, and very motivational. Students were kept engaged by her imaginative, resourceful lessons and her very enthusiastic teaching style. Her excellent communication abilities and technology skills supported her adept classroom presentations. Lindsey’s effective classroom management and interpersonal skills resulted in a classroom learning environment where all students felt safe, secure, and valued. The concern, caring, and enthusiasm she displayed for her students contributed to the superior rapport she enjoyed with them. She also went beyond her required classroom duties by coaching the school’s cheerleading team and assisting in the after school study center. Lindsey’s sense of dedication and positive attitude are superb personal and professional characteristics. She possesses an excellent work ethic, mature demeanor, initiative, and knowledge of her subject matter. Her preparation, performance, and attitude are some of the best I have witnessed.