News Release, Calvert County Public Schools
Prince Frederick, MD- Calvert County Public Schools proudly announces the district’s finalists for the Washington Post Teacher of the Year and Principal of the Year Awards. Willanette Thomas-Lohr of Huntingtown Elementary is the CCPS finalist for Teacher of the Year, and Brock Fulton of Huntingtown Elementary is the finalist for Principal of the Year.
Dr. Daniel D. Curry, Superintendent, said, “Ms. Thomas-Lohr and Mr. Fulton are both outstanding educators who focus their work on student success each and every day.”
Ms. Thomas-Lohr has spent her career at Huntingtown Elementary, exemplifying excellence in teaching across several grades. She has sponsored several student activities, including MESA, the math team, and Destination Imagination. Her influence extends beyond the classroom to school and district leadership roles. She is an active member of the school improvement team and serves as the trainer for the district initiatives Learning Focused and Schoology. Because of her instructional expertise within the classroom, Ms. Thomas-Lohr has served on the district’s Elementary Mathematics Leadership Team for many years. According to Jennifer Young, Supervisor of Elementary Mathematics, “To be an exemplary educator, a teacher must have mastered two components: creating a classroom environment where kids want to learn and having the instructional expertise to design the instruction so that they will learn. Ms. Thomas-Lohr is indeed an exemplary educator.”
Mr. Fulton makes school climate and culture a priority. He nurtures an environment where parents and their children feel that they are part of the school community, and he works with families to support all students at Huntingtown Elementary. He knows that ongoing learning is essential to effective leadership, and he seeks out administrative and instructional training. He fully engages in professional development with his teachers and makes it a priority to attend and facilitate grade level Professional Learning Community meetings. According to Tony Navarro, Executive Director of Administration, Mr. Fulton has “an admirable work ethic. His commitment and dedication to improving instruction and raising student achievement is exceptional. He is able to prioritize tasks, make very effective use of his time, and solve the daily challenges in the life and times of a school. He is a transformational leader.”
The Washington Post Teacher of the Year Award, formerly known as the Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award, recognizes teachers who exemplify excellence in their profession. The Washington Post Principal of the Year Award, formerly called the Distinguished Educational Leadership Award, seeks to recognize those principals who go beyond the day-to-day demands of their position to create an exceptional educational environment. School systems in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, including D.C. public charters and private schools, selected nominees in the two categories.
The winner of the 2019 Teacher of the Year award is Kelly Harper, a third-grade teacher at Amidon-Bowen Elementary in Washington, D.C., and the Principal of the Year is Nelson Horine, principal of the six campuses of Anne Arundel Evening High School in Anne Arundel County.