Nominate an outstanding principal and teacher for The Washington Post 2018 annual awards

Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) is accepting nominations for its 2018 Principal of the Year and Teacher of the Year awards. The annual award honors exemplary principals and teachers and recognizes those who go beyond the day-to-day demands of their position to create an exceptional educational environment.

The selected principal and teacher will serve as Charles County’s finalist in The Washington Post Principal of the Year awards program. The Post’s Principal of the Year program is formerly known as the Distinguished Educational Leadership Award program. Finalists in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area will be selected as The Washington Post Principal of the Year and The Washington Post Teacher of the Year.

Teachers, students, former students, parents, administrators or community members may submit nominations. Nominees must have a minimum of five year’s experience as a principal or teacher and three of those years must have been with Charles County Public Schools. Principals and teachers may not nominate themselves.

Nomination materials must include a minimum of four statements of support, one of which must be submitted by a professional educator; a career summary (list of positions held, date and location of each, and degrees and certificates earned); a 200-word biography written to highlight the specific award for which the awardee was nominated; and a description of contributions in each of the nomination criteria categories.

The nomination criteria categories for principals are:

• Manage effectively;

• Demonstrate and encourage creativity and innovation;

• Foster cooperation between the school and the community;

• Maintain a continuing dialogue with students and parents as well as faculty and staff;

• Keep abreast of developments in the field of education;

• Encourage team spirit;

• Demonstrate leadership and exemplify commitment;

• Continue to play an active role in the classroom; and

• Maintain their position as principal throughout the 201819 school year.

The nomination criteria categories for teachers are:

• Instill in students a desire to learn and achieve;

• Understand the individual needs of students, encourage their talents and foster their self-esteem;

• Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of subject matter and the ability to share it effectively with students;

• Foster cooperative relationships with their colleagues and the community;

• Demonstrate outstanding leadership; and

• Maintain their teaching position throughout the 2018-19 school year.

Nomination materials must be included in a presentation binder that does not exceed 100 single pages. Included in the binder should be one laser print of a color vertical headshot photograph of the nominee as well as a disc including the electronic photo as a 3-by-5-inch jpeg file with minimum resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi).

Nominations are due by Thursday, Dec. 21. Binders should be sent to the Office of Human Resources, Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, Md., 20646. Binders must include a completed cover page. The cover page, as well as additional nomination materials, is posted at http://bit.ly/2k7kr1P.

Charles County’s 2018 Principal of the Year will be one of 19 finalists for The Post’s Principal of the Year award. The winner will be selected by a screening committee and kept confidential until The Washington Post runs its advertisement to announce the recipient. Contact Tonia Miles-Carvana in human resources at 301-934-7255 with questions.

The Arc welcomes new development director

The Arc Southern Maryland has welcomed Renée Seigley as its new director of development. This role is vital to ensuring financial stability for The Arc Southern Maryland through business development and fundraising activities.

Seigley brings 20 years of experience, including former roles as vice president of sales and marketing for a leading residential developer and national director of sales and marketing for one of the nation’s top home builders.

“We are excited and fortunate to bring Renee on board at The Arc,” CEO Terry Long said in a news release. “We believe she will bring us to new heights, increasing communications and connecting us to the people that have a true and vested interest in The Arc, including the families and people we support.”

Seigley’s expertise includes developing and implementing successful online and offline marketing campaigns, managing marketing and operational budgets, and direct P&L responsibility. Seigley has served as a board member and chaired several nonprofit committees, leading efforts to raise funds which supported the mission of those organizations.

Seigley said in the release she feels “privileged to have the opportunity to work with The Arc and serve its consumers” and she looks forward to “creating efficient and compelling opportunities for donors to support The Arc and making the experience of giving satisfying and rewarding.”

Seigley holds an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh and lives in North Beach with her 5-year-old daughter.

Give back through Maryland’s Master Gardener Program

Master Gardeners educate Maryland residents about safe, effective and sustainable horticultural practices that build healthy gardens, landscapes and communities. The program trains Master Gardeners as volunteer representatives of the University of Maryland Extension to extend our services and programs to the general public.

To become a Master Gardener, adults must take a training course and then contribute at least 40 hours of volunteer service with the program that year. Each following year, volunteers complete at least 20 service hours and 10 continuing education hours. In 2017, Master Gardeners logged over 3,300 hours of volunteer service in Charles County.

The 2018 Master Gardener basic training course will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6-9 p.m. from Feb. 1 through April 10, 2018, at Thomas Stone High School in Waldorf. The course covers a range of topics such as botany, soils, vegetable gardening and more.

Students receive instruction from Extension and other professionals as well as experienced Master Gardeners. Those with a Maryland Teaching Certificate may receive 3 CPD credits for completing the course.

Cost for the course is $180 which includes a copy of the Maryland Master Gardener Handbook and other course materials. Space is limited. For more information, go to go.umd.edu/becomemg contact Luke Gustafson at LNG@umd.edu or 301-934-5404.

Leadership SoMd. seeks new executive director

The Leadership Southern Maryland (LSM) Board of Directors announced recently that it has begun the search process for its next executive director. Leadership Southern Maryland is the premier leadership program for the Southern Maryland region, with more than 300 alumni in its 10-year history.

The successful candidate will sustain and grow the quality, content, composition and stature of LSM. Potential candidates are encouraged to download the job vacancy announcement on the LSM website, www.leadershipsomd.org. Review of resumes will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

For questions about the position or the application process, email edsearch@leadershipsomd.org.