Judith Burgin, a Spanish teacher at Central Lee High School in Donnellson, was awarded WGEM's 2008 Golden Apple Award for teaching excellence. Burgin was one of five Golden Apple Award winners in the tri-state area. She was nominated and supported for this award by students, colleagues, and parents. Judy has been very active in her local CLEA for 38 years including many years as grievance chair and also as one of the first negotiators for CLEA in the 1970s. She retired from Central Lee at the end of 2008 after 41 years in education.

Harding Middle School Teacher Mark Schnurstein was one of nearly 40 educators who took part in NASA's "Building Partnerships for Sustainability" workshop. Participants from across the country traveled to NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, to learn about the latest NASA projects; tour NASA facilities; and attend seminars taught by NASA researchers, engineers, and technicians. The workshops were hosted by NASA Langley as part of the NASA Explorer Schools program. Through this program, NASA establishes three-year partnerships with schools across the nation. The goal of the program is to improve teaching and student learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. After completing the workshop, teachers can forge ahead into the new school year ready to integrate NASA content and hands-on activities into their everyday lessons. To learn more about the NASA Explorer Schools program, visit http://explorerschools.nasa.gov.

Michael Blair, an Advanced Physics teacher from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, spent three weeks in June attending the Fulbright Teacher Spring Seminar 2008 for American Teachers to Germany. The Fulbright Commission in Berlin sponsored the program. Blair was selected from over 250 applicants, along with 20 other teachers from around the United States. They spent two weeks observing German schools and attending seminars on their educational system. The third week was spent visiting schools in various parts of Germany in hopes of forming an exchange.

Des Moines Roosevelt ninth-grade English teacher Emily Bollinger learned new techniques at the Freedom Writers Institute to help her students. The Freedom Writers method aims to increase students' interest in school and, in turn, help decrease high school dropout rates. After attending the institute Bollinger said she is going to have her students write several times a week, "to give kids a voice, to empower them, to listen to them, and to validate their knowledge and experiences."  For more information go to www.freedomwritersfoundation.org.

Don Betts, director of the Carrie Lane Alternative School in Charles City, has been named 2008 educator of the Year by the Iowa Association of Alternative Education.

A number of ISEA members have been honored with the 2008 Gold Star Award for Outstanding Teaching by the R.J. McElroy Trust and KWWL Television. Winners from Dubuque county are: Diane Callahan, Western Dubuque High School; Terry Gross, Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School; Tara Noonan, Cascade Elementary School; Carol Schmitt, Table Mound Elementary School; and JoAnne Uthe-Gibson, Dubuque Senior High School. Winners from Black Hawk County are: Sandra Baade, Southdale Elementary School; Sherri Gabbard, Longfellow Elementary; Ruth Koltookian, Holmes Junior High School; Ken Murphy, Edison Elementary School; and Deidra Noborikawa; East High School.

Vicki Goshen, a special education teacher at Cedar Heights Elementary School in Cedar Falls, has won the Learning Disabilities Association of America's prestigious Sam Kirk Educator of the Year Award for 2008.

The ISEA's East Central UniServ Unit has honored three members for their exemplary teaching and service to the Association with the Member of the Year award. They are Chris Shope and Cindy Kunde of Iowa City and Larry Gardemann of Vinton-Shellsburg. John Meskimen of Iowa City was named Educator of the Year.

Four ISEA members from southwest Iowa have been honored with the H.H. "Red" and Ruth H. Nelson Family Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award which includes $5,000 and a trophy. They are Linda Hahn of Lewis Central and Al Hudek, Mary Reid, and Joan VonTersch-Crampton of Council Bluffs.

Karen Bourne, a music teacher at Sioux City's Irving Elementary School, has received a $2,000 Learning and Leadership Grant from the NEA Foundation.

Association activist Doug Brightman, a fourth-grade teacher at Fort Dodge, was honored with The Golden Apple Award sponsored by WHO-TV and Allied Insurance.

Carolyn Kingland-Hanson of Hampton-Dumont also received The Golden Apple Award sponsored by WHO-TV and Allied Insurance.

Long-time ISEA leader and retired teacher from Dike, Stan Van Hauen has been named chairman of the Iowa Northland Regional Council of Governments. He is currently a member of the Dike City Council.

Karen Downing, a high school language arts teacher in West Des Moines, is one of only three teachers nationwide to be named as a Road Scholar Educator of the Year by the educational adult travel organization Elderhostel. She will receive $2,000 to study the migratory pattern of gray whales in Mexico.

In addition to being named a runner-up in the ISEA's Excellence in Education Award program, Rhonda Baker of Scranton Elementary School received the Stephen Tsai Award for Excellence in Autism Education from the Autism Society of Iowa.

Des Moines elementary teachers Kris Morine and Sharon Campbell had searched in vain for a bright, eye-catching book for young children to go along with their science curriculum, so they created one themselves! The two wrote and illustrated From Dirt to Showers, How Seeds Become Flowers, a delightful story designed to go hand-in-hand with a project where students plant seeds and care for the seedlings as they grow.

Donna Rickers, a fourth- and fifth-grade English teacher in the Ar-We-Va School District, was named Wal-Mart's 2007 Iowa Teacher of the Year.

An anti-war play written by Kent Mick, a history teacher at Garner-Hayfield High School, has been published in London and has recently been performed in Canada.

Robert Sessions, a philosophy and humanities professor at Kirkwood Community College, has been awarded the 2007 Distinguished Humanities Educator Award by the Community College Humanities Association.

A family and consumer sciences teacher at Central Campus in Des Moines, Alison Arnold was awarded a $2,000 grant as part of the ING Unsung Heroes program to help fund her work to prevent teen pregnancy.

Kris Mesicek of Des Moines has been certified by the American Grant Writers' Assoociation. Over the years, she has been instrumental in the Des Moines School District receiving nearly $51 million in funding.

Luann Swanson of the Pekin Community Schools has been named the Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year for 2007 by the Iowa Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Carol Dorsey of Schuler Elementary School in Atlantic has been named the Atlantic Wal-Mart Store's Teacher of the Year.

Hempstead High School math teacher Claudette Bees was honored last spring as the 2007 Teacher of the Year in Dubuque.

Larry Niemeyer, Cedar Rapids Jefferson softball coach, has chalked up 1,901 victories in his legendary career-a state and national record!

Special education teacher Shirley Eyres has been honored as 2007 Central Lee Community School District Teacher of the Year.

Esther Schmitz, a special education teacher at Lenox Elementary School, has been named Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year for the Creston area.

Maxine Barrows, a family and consumer sciences instructor at Holmes Junior High in Cedar Falls, was recently honored as the 2007 Iowa Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher of the Year.

Kimberly Heckart, a third-grade teacher at Prairie Ridge Elementary School in the College Community School District, has been named Iowa History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and Preserve America.

Jessica Gogerty of North High School in Des Moines, and Justin Heckman of Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs have been named as finalists for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Dennis Fett, a K-12 music teacher at Boyer Valley, was a finalist in the recent Iowa's Got Talent contest. He performed a clarinet solo called Immer Kleiner (always smaller) while he gradually took his clarinet apart piece by piece, ending up playing only the mouthpiece.

	Randall Lowe

Randall Lowe of Hawkeye Community College has been awarded the title of Certified Master Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning Educator--the highest credential that can be conferred upon an HVACR educator.

Association member Evelyn Rock, lead math teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School, has been named the Council Bluffs Teacher of the Year.

Sheila Coyle, an art teacher at North Middle School, has been named the 2007 Sioux City Community School District Teacher of the Year.

Monticello High School business teacher Jennifer Lambert has been honored with the Heroes of the Tri-States Award presented by the American Red Cross of the Tri-States.

Two of ISEA member Jane Hanigan Kenney's ninth-grade students from Thomas Jefferson in Council Bluffs won first place honors in both categories of the statewide "Write Women Back into History" essay contest. They were introduced on the floors of the Iowa Senate and House before being honored at a luncheon by Lt. Gov. Patty Judge.

NEA President Reg Weaver has appointed ISEA Retired member Al Bode of Charles City to serve on the NEA New Products and Programs Department's Online Professional Development Programs Advisory Committee.

	Jan Olson

Sioux City educator and ISEA Executive Board member Jan Olson was selected to receive the Mildred Middleton Mentor Program Leader of the Year Award. ISEA President Linda Nelson presented the award at the recent Iowa Mentoring and Induction Institute held at the University of Northern Iowa.

Three ISEA members have received Student Achievement Grants from the NEA Foundation. Theodore Brightman of Weeks Middle School in Des Moines, will work to help students improve their writing skills through a project focused on community publishing. Marilyn Dysart and Linda Stephens of B.R. Miller Elementary School in Marshalltown will use their grant to increase reading comprehension and technology skills in language arts class and engage in a multidisciplinary study of robotics.

Joanie Heitzman, a school nurse and Association activist from Dubuque was appointed to represent ISEA as part of a project to help school districts develop pandemic influenza plans.

Shauna Firmature-Cihacek, a junior high school language arts teacher who is also president of the Council Bluffs Education Association is one of only 35 persons selected to attend the NEA Ethnic Leaders Meeting in Philadelphia this summer. She will represent the American Indian/Alaskan Native.

Two ISEA members from Muscatine were recently surprised with the news that they had won the prestigious Stanley Foundation Explorer Award. Kathy Haltmeyer, a high school special education teacher and member of the ISEA Executive Board; and Rachelle Schneider, a K-5 ESL teacher at Madison Elementary School, will receive an international study tour to a destination of their choice.

Jane Haugen, a fourth-grade teacher at Hoover Elementary School in Dubuque, has been elected to a two-year term as vice president-elementary for the Iowa Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

An English teacher at East High School in Des Moines, Angela Jackson has been named an Outstanding American Teacher by the National Honor Roll organization. She was nominated for the honor by a former student.

Two Association members from Bettendorf have been honored by the Iowa Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. Kathy Hayward of Norton Elementary School was named Elementary School Physical Education Teacher of the Year, and Scott Lammers was selected as the Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year.

Rebecca Kobos, an elementary art teacher at Coralville, has been selected as Iowa's Outstanding Art Educator of the Year as well as Iowa's nominee for the Western Region Award. She was selected for her contributions and leadership in art education.

Long-time teacher and Association activist Galen Zumbach of Creston has been selected as Iowa's Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year. He received his $10,000 award during a surprise assembly at the Creston High School where he teaches agricultural science.

Jane Burleson, a retired teacher associate from Fort Dodge, was honored with the 2006 Cristine Wilson Medal for Equality and Justice from the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women. She was cited for her years of advocacy and in recognition for her work as a member of the Fort Dodge City Council.

The Marion Independent School District has been honored with the Exemplary Music Program Award for 2006 by the Iowa Music Educators Association. Seven of the eight music teachers are ISEA members. They are Jamie Kelley, Dave Law, Chad Allard, Pam Schulz, Kim Specht, Amanda Freese, and Jenny Neymeyer.

Several ISEA members were among those recently inducted into the Iowa High School Press Association's Hall of Fame. They are Ann Visser, Pella; Jim Tredway, Des Moines; Don Haines, Cedar Rapids; Steven Lyle, Davenport; and Deb Buttleman-Malcolm, Davenport.

Julie Alexander, a preschool teacher with AEA 267 in Cedar Falls, has been named the winner of the 2006 Stephen Tsai Award for Excellence in Autism Education from the Autism Society of Iowa.

Beth Swantz, a fourth-grade teacher at Kalona, has been awarded a $5,000 Innovation Grant from the NEA Foundation. She and her teaching partner Phyllis Casper will implement a program designed to integrate technology into the classroom.

Cedar Rapids middle school teacher Rick Cushman has been named the 2006 Technology Educator of the Year by the Iowa Technology and Education Connection. The award is presented each year to an innovative classroom teacher who uses technology to improve instruction and student achievement.

Two of Jane Hanigan-Kinney's students at Thomas Jefferson High School in Council Bluffs, won first and third places among more than 1,000 Iowa students who submitted entries for the 22nd annual "Write Women Back Into History" essay contest sponsored by the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women. The three were honored at a special awards ceremony in March by Iowa Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson and they were also recognized in writing by the Iowa House of Representatives and Senate.

Mt. Pleasant teacher Patricia File was awarded a Fellowship by Horace Mann Insurance and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum to study the life and legacy of our 16th president. Only 50 teachers nationwide were selected to take part in the five-day institute based on their resume, essay questions, and letters of recommendation.

	Alan Young

Des Moines Education Association President Alan Young has been elected to serve on the Advisory Council for the National Council of Urban Education Associations (NCUEA). The group is charged with developing strategies on how to best address achievement gaps that exist in urban and largely minority school districts.

Patricia Dickman, a middle school language arts teacher at Midland, has been selected to participate in the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program. She will travel to Japan for three weeks in November to study the Japanese culture and educational system.