For Immediate Release
Wednesday, September 23, 1998
Contact: Jan Feldman

1999 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Is English Teacher from Amherst

Boston -- Massachusetts Commissioner of Education David P. Driscoll Wednesday awarded the 1999 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year honor to Bruce M. Penniman, an English teacher at Amherst-Pelham Regional High School in Amherst.

Mr. Penniman is a twenty-seven year veteran of the Amherst Regional School District. He was selected from more than 400 nominees as the 36th Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. The Teacher of the Year program recognizes one outstanding public school teacher annually as a model of excellence in teaching.

Joining Commissioner Driscoll in honoring Penniman in the Great Hall of the State House in Boston were Governor Paul Cellucci, Senate President Thomas Birmingham, and legislators and education leaders from across the Commonwealth. A former student of Penniman, Erik Betjemann, also spoke at the event [Erik Betjemann's speech].

With this recognition, Mr. Penniman will receive several awards, including computer hardware and software, school supplies for his school and himself, course vouchers at colleges and universities, and a crystal apple from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Additionally, he will be the state's candidate for the 1999 National Teacher of the Year, whose program is sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers and Scholastic, Inc.

As the 1999 Teacher of the Year, Penniman receives a one-year sabbatical during which he will present workshops to educators in school districts throughout the state, and he will assist the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on important initiatives such as the new law, Chapter 260 of the Acts of 1998, to strengthen the teaching profession for future teachers.

Penniman is widely acknowledged as an exemplary teacher. In addition to his teaching duties, he serves as chair of the English Department and advisor to the Amherst-Pelham Regional High School newspaper. Additionally, he is co-director of the Western Massachusetts Writing Project, and editor of The Leaflet, the journal of the New England Association of Teachers of English, a publication that recognized him in 1992 with an Article of the Year Award.

Commissioner Driscoll said, "Bruce Penniman is an exceptional educator, an accomplished writer and a recognized scholar, and he remains committed to his work in the classroom, even though he has had numerous offers to become an administrator. I am delighted to have such a high caliber professional as the 1999 Teacher of the Year, and I extend my best wishes to Bruce and his family for this outstanding honor."

An independent committee of people representing public school administrators, students, teachers, education associations, and former Teachers of the Year, recommended Penniman among five finalists to Commissioner Driscoll, who made the final selection.

Sponsors for the 1999 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year program include Bell Atlantic, J.L. Hammett Company, College Fund Division of U.I.C.I., Microsoft Corporation, Harvard Graduate College of Education, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, UMass/Amherst Graduate College of Education and the Massachusetts Field Center for Teaching and Learning.

Recent Teachers of the Year are: Mary Ginley (1998), Longmeadow Public Schools; Leonard Swanton (1997), Lexington Public Schools; Kathleen Sherman (1996), Falmouth Public Schools; and Jerry Howland (1995), Boston Public Schools.

Also recognized at the event Wednesday were the four finalists and eight semi-finalists for the 1999 Teacher of the Year. Additionally, the ten state finalists for the 1998 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching were named today. The Presidential Awards program is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, which annually identifies outstanding science and mathematics teachers in each state and the four U.S. jurisdictions. The state finalists' credentials will be reviewed by a national panel of experts and the National Science Foundation, which will then forward recommendations for Presidential Awardees to the President.

The four Teacher of the Year finalists are:
Peter Amati, Jr., Holliston High School, Holliston
Steven Kocur, Old Rochester Regional Jr. High, Mattapoisett
Martha Raphael, Bay Path Regional Vocational-Technical High School, Charlton
Marylea Sullivan, Woodward Middle School, Southborough

The eight semi-finalists for Teacher of the Year are:
Frances Ashe, Holliston Middle School, Holliston
Lousia-May Bouchard, Meadow Brook School, East Longmeadow
Rosemary Corley, Joseph L. Mulready School, Hudson
Olivia DuBose, Charlestown High School, Boston
Robert Dunn, Beverly High School, Beverly
Sheila Frias, Comprehensive Skills Center, Worcester
Robert Hannon, Sandwich High School, Sandwich
Constance Sweeney, Andrew B. Cushman Elementary School, Dartmouth

The ten finalists for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching are:
Jane Audrey-Neuhauser, Sudbury
Public Schools Linda Eyster, Milton Academy, Milton
Mary Elizabeth Kinkead, Johnson Elementary School, Natick
Susan Plummer, Conte Community School,Pittsfield
Judith Richards, Graham & Parks School, Cambridge>
Jeremiah Russell, Boston Latin Academy, Boston
Jeanette Spinale, Frank E. Holt School, Whitman
Patricia Ann Terrell, Sharon Middle School, Sharon
Thomas Vaughn, Arlington High School, Arlington
Joan Willets, Haverhill High School, Haverhill

For more information on the Teacher of the Year and other teacher recognition programs, visit the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website at http://www.doe.mass.edu/.