2001 Golden Apple Award Winners Honored by First Lady Laura Bush
(Chicago - May 15, 2001) — Ten Chicagoland high school were honored with the 2001 Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching on Monday, May 14, 2001 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Navy Pier. First Lady Laura Bush met with this year’s winners and delivered opening remarks at the event. The ten teachers are:
James Arey, Elk Grove High School, Elk Grove Village
Dean M. Auriemma, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Flossmoor
Murray K. Fisher, Ed.D. Southside Occupational Academy, Chicago
Devora Freeman, Lawrence Hall Therapeutic Day School, Chicago
Jacqueline Gnant, DuSable High School, Chicago
Erin Kelly, Tinley Park High School, Tinley Park
Elizabeth Kirby, Kenwood Academy High School, Chicago
Sarah Levine, Marie Curie Metropolitan High School, Chicago
Rito Martinez, Morton East High School, Cicero
Tracy Van Duinen, Austin Community High School, Chicago
This year’s Golden Apple Awards winners were selected from over 1,200 nominations of high school teachers from Cook, Lake and DuPage Counties. Teachers were nominated from past and present students, parents, fellow teachers, administrators and community members. Grade eligibility is rotated each year between elementary, middle and high school teachers.
Teachers this year learned they had won the Golden Apple Awards from well-known Chicagoans, friends, and family members, including Chicago White Sox baseball legend Minnie Minoso, Chicago Actress Irma P. Hall (currently starring on UPN’s new series “All Souls”), world-renknowned chef Charlie Trotter, and Chicago news anchors Mary Ann Childers of CBS and Nancy Pender of FOX and Golden Apple President Elaine Schuster.
The Golden Apple Award is the premier teaching award for the Chicagoland area. Winners receive an Apple computer, $2,500, a semester sabbatical at Northwestern University and induction in the Golden Apple Academy of Educators, an active organization that develops, implements and participates in administering the programs of the Golden Apple Foundation.
Each of the ten winners was profiled in a videotape segment highlighting their classroom. Chicago’s First Lady Maggie Daley presented each winner with their Golden Apple Award, and each winner gave a speech.
State Senator Dan Cronin was given this year’s Golden Apple Community Service Award. The annual Golden Apple Community Service Award is given to individuals or institutions that exemplify leadership in advancing Chicago’s public good. Senator Cronin has been a strong advocate for education in Illinois, as well a long-time supporter of both the Golden Apple Teacher Education (GATE) alternative teacher certification program and the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois program.
Other notable guests included Golden Apple Founder Martin “Mike” Koldyke, State Superintendent of Education Dr. Glenn W. McGee, Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas and Golden Apple Board Chair Jim Baumann, President of Follett Higher Education Group.
The Golden Apple Awards is a black-tie televised event and be broadcast May 30, 2001, at 8:00 p.m. and rebroadcast June 3, 2001, at 6:00 p.m. on WTTW, Channel 11.
The Golden Apple Foundation was founded in 1985 to promote excellence in classroom teaching. The Foundation sponsors the annual Golden Apple Awards for teachers, the statewide Golden Apple Scholars teacher recruitment program, the Golden Apple Teacher Education (GATE) program, and various workshops and programs.
The Golden Apple Awards are sponsored jointly by Apple and Lucent Technologies.