The Ella Cline Shear School of Education has established the Geneseo Distinguished Educator Awards to recognize outstanding alumni educators who have made a profound impact on individual students, schools and communities. With over 13,000 educator alumni, Geneseo graduates make a difference throughout New York state and the entire nation.
 
"These awards will honor Geneseo alumni in the field of education who have gone way above and beyond in their commitment to superior educational practices," said Osman Alawiye, dean of Geneseo's School of Education. "Recipients of this award not only teach and serve, they inspire young people to achieve more. They represent the legions of extraordinary teachers and professionals all over the world who shape our society through the education of today's students."
 
Nominees must be SUNY Geneseo graduates who work or have worked as a teacher, guidance counselor, school psychologist, librarian, administrator or staff member who impacts the daily lives and educational experiences of K-12 students. The awards may be conferred upon retired educators or posthumously. Nominations must come from a superintendent, principal, vice principal, dean or department chair and be postmarked by March 23, 2010. Administrators are invited to nominate up to two qualifying education professionals each year.
 
Award recipients and three top honorees will be recognized at a complimentary champagne reception under the tent at Summer Reunion 2010. To further honor educators, Summer Reunion will also feature special alumni-college classes that address important issues in education today, an open house at the School of Education and other events focused on educators.
 
During reunion, Milne Library will also be hosting the exhibit, "From Normal to Extraordinary," a retrospective on the history of educators at Geneseo.  The exhibit will feature artifacts, ephemera and photographs that span Geneseo's 139-year history. Liz Argentieri, Milne's special collections librarian, invites alumni and emeriti to loan the library mementos, keepsakes or photographs that will help to tell Geneseo's story. The library is seeking "items such as grade reports from the Normal School, any documents with the Normal School insignia, beanies from the 1950s and '60s ... pretty much anything that helps to bring Geneseo's history to life," says Justina Elmore, a reference librarian at Milne who is helping to organize the exhibit.   

Part of the beauty of going to Geneseo, says Gretchen Rosales '01, MS '08, is that the experience instills in you a sense of community. When she read about the college's partnership with the residents and leaders of El Sauce, Nicaragua and the service-learning program in the June issue of the Scene, she was inspired to find a way for students in the Kendall Junior/Senior High School in Kendall, N.Y. to help with the effort to improve the Central American community.

Rosales has taught Spanish at Kendall for six years and runs the Spanish Club.

Club members organized the drive to collect toothpaste and other items for the dental clinic in El Sauce and will support an oral-hygiene initiative created by Allison Kornblatt '11 in El Sauce last summer.

"We're always looking for ways to help out," says Rosales. "What a great bridge to tie Geneseo to what I'm doing now."

Students were so excited, says Rosales, that the community-service projected blossomed to include the entire K-12 student body. Rosales and her students collected 1,120 tubes of toothpaste, 650 toothbrushes, 275 packs of dental floss and 50 bottles of mouthwash.
Rosales presented Associate Professor Rose McEwen, chair of foreign languages, with the boxes last month.
To make a gift to the El Sauce program or any other departmental initiative, visit here.