Dennis Birks Received 2024 Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching Award
Mr. Dennis Birks has been selected by the Ware Public Schools as a 2024 Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching Award Winner.
Mr. Birks has worked at Ware Public Schools since 2012 and has been at the Ware Junior Senior High School for the past 4 years as a Special Education Teacher. He services students with emotional and behavioral disabilities in a multi-grade classroom. Mr. Birks’ students have demonstrated continued improvements in their present levels of academic and functional performance in the classroom community they have created. He has been the ultimate team player and we are lucky to have him!
Mr. Birks will be honored at an in-person banquet at the Log Cabin in Holyoke on April 24th. The program will feature a festive awards presentation honoring the winners, who will each receive an engraved plaque and a check for $250, along with generous tuition incentives and scholarships offered by seven major colleges and universities in the region: Elms College, Bay Path University, Mount Holyoke College, Springfield College, Western New England University, Westfield State University, and the University of Massachusetts.
Winners also receive 3-month memberships at the Springfield Jewish Community Center or one of the six regional YMCAs.
All winners are further invited to apply for the selective Classroom Innovator Prize of $250. Created to foster educators’ interest and engagement in Project Based Learning, teachers can submit a project-based learning idea. Up to 15 prizes will be given.
The Excellence in Teaching Awards program, now in its 21st year, is made possible by the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation in partnership with the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation and supported by the American International College, Arrha Credit Union, Country Bank, and Meyers Brothers Kalicka.
“Every year we hear about how much teachers appreciate this celebration of their dedication and excellence. For us, it is a privilege to honor these deserving educators year after year,” Uli Nagel, Program Director, Excellence in Teaching Awards at the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation.
For further information about the Excellence in Teaching Awards Program, contact Program Coordinator Michelle Roberts ([email protected]).
