April 19, 2013 - Ferndale Public Schools

Three educators named Teacher of the Year
Congratulations to the following teachers from who received “Teacher of the Year” designation this past week. The teachers, one from each
level-Elementary School, Middle School, High School-were nominated by administrators, parents, colleagues, and students to receive the
distinction. The teachers will be each be recognized at an upcoming Board of Education meeting and at the year-end staff recognition event
in June, where each will be in a drawing to receive a leased car for one year from Suburban Collection. They were each notified in their
classrooms this week by a visit from their building principal (Eric Bruner, Dawn Warren, Lisa Williams) and Superintendent Gary Meier.
ELEMENTAry
SCHooL
ruth Tavalire has been a teacher in the Ferndale
Public Schools since 1991. She currently teaches
Grade 6 at Coolidge Intermediate School, and she
has also taught at Coolidge Middle School, Washington
Elementary and Harding Elementary where
she has specialized in social studies and English
language arts instruction. She is part of Coolidge’s
School Improvement Team and infuses technology
into her lessons in innovative ways. She was district
Elementary Teacher of the Year in 2003.
www.ferndaleschools.org Like the Ferndale Schools on Follow us on Twitter! @FerndaleSchools
Facebook!
MiDDLE
SCHooL
Jason Gillespie has taught Social Studies at Ferndale
Middle School since 2001. He has also taught
Environmental Science and Leadership courses and
he served as the Ferndale Education Association
President from 2010 to 2012. In 2012, he served as
an administrative intern at Roosevelt Primary School
where he worked with students, and he currently
runs the National Junior Honor Society and coordinates
community service projects, as well as fundraisers
within the school.
HiGH
SCHooL
ryan Dunlap has been a Science teacher in Ferndale
since 2000, the Head Football Coach since
2006, and Camp Skyline Adult Facilitator since 2002.
He redesigned the football program with a collaborative
team study program and higher academic
standards. He has been a teacher-mentor at the annual
Camp Skyline student communications and
leadership retreat, volunteered to teach at ACT Prep
Camps, set up services for Charity Days and the annual
canned food drives, and has developed two
innovative and popular courses for his students:
Wilderness Survival and Biological Diversity.