Congratulations…2010 NJAGC Award Winners
For the past ten years, Linda Waldron has taught K–6 gifted and talented students in the Berkeley Township School District as part of the district’s Advanced Learning Program. Some highlights of her career include a collaborative venture with a local high school which features a news broadcast entitled Wake up Berkeley; an intergenerational endeavor called Then and Now that connects students with senior members of the community; a Kids with a Cause community outreach class; and a business oriented program entitled Who Wants to Be an Entrepreneur. Through her association with the Ocean County Gifted and Talented Convocation Group, Linda helped to start a County Chess Tournament, Invention Convention, as well as the Jersey Shore Science Competition. In 2002 she received the Governor’s Teacher Recognition Award.
Frank R. Buglione, Superintendent of Rahway Public Schools, has served in many capacities during his 38 years in the district—as a teacher, director of curriculum instruction, principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent. When nominating Mr. Buglione for this award, his staff cited his support for the district’s gifted/talented program. He ensures staff has ample materials and supplies, visits the classes often participating in the lesson being presented, and attends convocations and parent evenings. He has supported professional development and is always interested in innovative ideas that will improve student learning. He was instrumental in determining multiple criteria for the program and provides for a pullout program in grades three, four, and five, and identification of accelerated students in grades K–2.
Joan O’Brien and her husband, Mark, live in South Plainfield with their four sons. Her understanding of the educational and emotional needs of gifted children grows everyday as she home schools her highly gifted eleven-year-old, works with the local school district to accommodate her highly gifted kindergartner, spins in the whirlwind of her nine-year-old’s never ending creativity, struggles to match wits with a cunning three-year-old, and serves as a Trustee for NJAGC. Joan has been serving as Co-Parent Chair for NJAGC and soon will take on responsibility for the organization’s quarterly newsletter, Promise. This year she presented workshops in active listening at NJAGC’s regional conferences, helped facilitate a Legislative Day of Excellence in Trenton for gifted students, and helped organize the NJAGC ice cream social.
Dr. Jay Doolan is the Director of Professional Services at the Foundation for Educational Administration (FEA), where he coordinates a variety of projects including the professional development programs that occur at FEA and in school districts across the state. He is the former Assistant Commissioner for the Division of Educational Standards and Programs at the NJ Department of Education. Throughout his career at the DOE he always had an “open door” when it came to gifted education in New Jersey. He worked with NJAGC to facilitate language in the administrative code and in the current QSAC monitoring with regard to gifted. He supported Gifted and Talented Students Month legislation and the Commission on Programs for Gifted Students. He attended several NJAGC annual conferences and was a panelist at the 2008 pre-conference.
The 2010 Nicholas Green Distinguished Student Award winner is an eleven-year-old sixth grader at the Holdrum Middle school in River Vale, Arthur James (AJ) Dennis. His interests and accomplishments are in the area of academics, especially mathematics. AJ not only seeks challenges in his study of math, but also finds connections and relationships to other areas of learning. Congratulations, AJ!
Mini-Grant Description: What Would YOU Do? By using scenarios gleaned from personal experiences, books, and articles, students will challenge each other to make decisions that will help them identify and combat bullying, peer pressure, and other social issues by way of an original video/computer game that students will respond to interactively. Elaine Mendelow, Immediate Past President of NJAGC, has served the organization in many other leadership capacities. She has served on the Governor’s Teacher Advisory Committee, the Teacher Advisory Committee for the Franklin Institute, and the Holocaust Education Commission for the Jewish Community Center in Cherry Hill. NJEA has featured four of her projects on its “Classroom Close-Up” program.
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