Wednesday, January 27, 2021 - 8:39 am
The Board of Education recognized Kromrey's Sonja Hungness, Darlayne Coughlin, and Kimberly Reynolds, along with Daria Borokhim of MHS at their regular meeting on Monday, Jan. 25.
Hungness is a finalist for the 2020 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, while Coughlin, Reynolds, and Borokhim have been nominated for Kohl Educational Foundation teacher fellowship awards. Glacier Creek eighth-grade math teacher Jennifer Lohr is also a Kohl nominee and will be recognized at an upcoming School Board meeting.
Borokhim has worked as a bilingual resource teacher in math and science classes at MHS for 10 years. She helped to launch the Latino Student Union and is an adviser for the Jewish Student Union. Borokhim helped create the Student Equity Institute and serves on the School Improvement Team. She also was awarded an Education Foundation grant as part of Respect Week in 2016.
Coughlin has taught band in the District for 15 years. She has been instrumental in Kromrey's band vision to "nove beyond the notes to cultivate a life-long passion and drive for creativity, curiosity, and community through a vision of students as accomplished learners and evolving musicians in pursuit of artistry.” She works to make sure students are actively engaged in their learning by providing authentic opportunities. She also has been instrumental in getting instruments in the hands of any student who wants to participate in band and ensuring that the literature studied is diverse enough to appeal to all students.
Reynolds has taught band for 15 years and been in the District since 2012. She and Coughlin were presenters at the 2020 Wisconsin Music Teacher Convention. Reynolds was selected as a member of the Wisconsin Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance committee early this January. She is currently working with composer Darryl Johnson on a band commission -- an original work for band that the Kromrey students will be able to premiere.
Lohr is in her fourth year at Glacier Creek and 11th year teaching overall. She is a member of the school's PBIS Tier 2 team. He has a bachelor's degree from UW-Eau Claire and a master's from Viterbo. Her goal as an educator is to help all students grow academically, behaviorally and socially-emotionally.
Hungness started at Sauk Trail in 1991 and moved to Kromrey in 1996. She received National Board Certification in 2006 and 2016. Hungless was also a PAEMST finalist in 2017. She noted during the recognition ceremony that she had Borokim as a student at Sauk Trail. She was particularly grateful for the support of the late Gene Gray, who principal at Sauk Trail, retired sixth-grade teacher Jyl Molle, Shelley Festge, and former team member Eric Engel, who is now an associate principal at Kromrey.
Established by Congress in 1983, the PAEMST program recognizes teachers who develop and implement a high-quality instructional program that is informed by content knowledge and enhances student learning. Since the program’s inception, nearly 5,000 teachers have been recognized for their contributions in the classroom and to their profession. A panel may select one teacher of mathematics and one of science to receive a Presidential Teaching Award from each state and four U.S. jurisdictions, with up to 108 awards given each year. In addition to recognition and professional development opportunities, award recipients receive $10,000 from the National Science Foundation.
The Kohl Foundation Scholarship and Fellowship program was established in 1990. The program has handed out more than $21.2 million to Wisconsin educators, students and schools. Fellowship recipients are educators who have been chosen for their superior ability to inspire a love of learning in their students, their ability to motivate others, and their leadership and service within and outside the classroom.
The 2021 Kohl recipients are expected to be announced in February or March