Schoology, the nation’s leading K-12 learning management and assessment platform, recently announced the four recipients of its NEXT 2019 awards. These awards are given each year to a teacher, administrator, school district and Schoology ambassador who have done something particularly innovative to advance what’s possible in education.
“Our NEXT awards recognize our customers who have used Schoology to make a meaningful difference in their classrooms, their schools and their school districts,” said Justin Serrano, President of Schoology. “They’re doing remarkable things to elevate student achievement, and this award is one way we can showcase their hard work.”
Here is the list of this year’s winners:
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Teacher of the Year – Brian Bruggeman, band director for the School District of Monroe (Wisconsin). Mr. Bruggeman proves that even a music teacher can incorporate edtech into his classroom instruction. He is so proficient with Schoology that he has become the go-to person in his district for help with the platform.
“If it happens in my class, it happens on Schoology,” he said. “From daily lesson plans to discussion posts to student performances, even tests and quizzes, I use Schoology to engage my students inside and outside the music room.”
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Administrator of the Year – Amy Cordes, achievement specialist for personalized learning, Frederick County (Maryland) Public Schools. Ms. Cordes was nominated by a colleague and selected for this award for implementing a learning management system (LMS) to successfully customize learning for students throughout the district.
“We have a very diverse district, and my job is to make sure personalized instruction can happen in every classroom,” she said. “We’ve been using Schoology for just one year, but we are already seeing how this platform is leveraged to help teachers personalize and maximize instructional time with students.”
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School District of the Year – White Plains (New York) Public Schools. The White Plains school district uses Schoology to help its English learners overcome language barriers. Schoology enabled the district to execute a dual language program, offering courses in Spanish so newcomer students don’t miss a beat as they learn English. Native English speakers are also supported as they further their knowledge in science, math and social studies.
“I have been using the LMS system to help my foreign language students get a better understanding – at their own pace – of the other studies in their coursework,” said Jherlyn Lopez, a social studies teacher and instructional technologist in the district. “They listen to lessons in Spanish and can keep up with the class, as they continue to develop confidence in speaking and understanding the English language.”
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Ambassador of the Year – Rick Bray, instructional technology professional development specialist for the Broome-Tioga Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) in Binghamton, New York. Schoology ambassadors are engaged and knowledgeable leaders who serve as the voice of Schoology’s user community, promoting the platform and sharing their expertise with other educators. Mr. Bray was chosen as ambassador of the year for his unique application of the platform.
“Our job at BOCES is to help public schools control costs and provide quality programs. From the beginning, we were committed to providing teachers with the opportunity to experience the platform as both teachers and learners by hosting our professional development through the LMS. This dual perspective has helped our teachers become more adept at using Schoology to teach and engage students,” Bray said.
“A culture of collaboration makes the Schoology community successful: You have people who are comfortable asking questions, and people who are comfortable sharing ideas. As a Schoology ambassador, I am passionate about helping people grow professionally.”
About Schoology
Schoology seamlessly connects learning management with assessments so that school districts can improve student performance, foster collaboration throughout their community and personalize learning for every student. Every day millions of students, parents, faculty and administrators from nearly 2,000 K-12 school districts leverage Schoology to advance what is possible in education. For more information, visit www.schoology.com.
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