Golden Apple Awards gala honors top Chicago-area teachers WTTW/11 tapes event for June 19 TV special
(Chicago - June 11, 2003) — For the first time in its 18-year history, the Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching were presented as part of a fund-raising ceremony and gala, with proceeds going to the Golden Apple Academy, which works to ensure that all Illinois schoolchildren have the excellent teachers they deserve.
Five hundred educators and their benefactors attended the formal-dress ceremony and dinner on Saturday, May 31, in the Imperial Ballroom of the Fairmont Chicago hotel, 200 N. Columbus Dr.
WTTW/11 taped the awards presentation for broadcast on Thursday, June 19 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 22 at 6 p.m.
"We are extremely pleased that so many Chicago-area organizations and individuals so generously supported our programs," said Elaine Schuster, president and CEO of Golden Apple Foundation. "It is a remarkable vote of confidence in our firm belief that all children deserve excellent teachers."
Golden Apple Awards were presented to 10 pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade teachers, who were among 1,100 teachers in Cook, Lake and DuPage counties nominated for the distinction.
The award winners include four Chicago public school teachers: Mary Bianchi, Christopher Elementary School; Elizabeth Giesen, Oscar Mayer Elementary School; Carolyn Grantham, Woodson South Elementary School; and Paula Sprecher, Farnsworth Elementary School; and six suburban public school teachers: Thomas Beck, Central Elementary School, Lake Bluff; Karen Meany, Sieden Prairie Elementary School, Matteson; Donna Piazza, Willow School, Homewood; Margaret Pyterek, Grove Elementary School, Northbrook; and Jennifer Santo and Luci Stein, both at Avon Center Elementary School, Round Lake Beach.
Winners received a tuition-free fall sabbatical of courses at Northwestern University, a personal computer, $2,500, and membership in the Golden Apple Academy, which serves as an education resource providing programs and ideas to improve education for all students.
Program sponsors included Apple Computer, Inc., The Boeing Company, Northern Trust Bank, Mason Foundation, and The Karl Cless Foundation.
Golden Apple is a steadily growing community of expert teachers and teachers-to-be who are working together to ensure that all Illinois schoolchildren have the excellent teachers they deserve. Drawing on shared experience and inspiration, Golden Apple recruits, prepares, and mentors new teachers; creates model programs and partnerships; and encourages all teachers to attain ever-higher levels of excellence and commitment to teaching as their life's work.