Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 10, 2015
The Kennedy Center to Recognize
116 D.C. Area Teachers
For Participation in Professional Development Program
Awards Ceremony to Take Place at Kennedy Center
Friday April 24, 2015
(WASHINGTON)—The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will award 116
Washington, D.C. metropolitan area teachers Certificates of Study for their participation in the
Kennedy Center’s Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA) program at a special awards
ceremony and reception on Friday, April 24, at 5:45 p.m. at the Kennedy Center.
Through the Kennedy Center’s CETA program, teachers study with their colleagues in
courses and workshops led by expert teaching artists and arts educators. They learn about the arts
and ways to integrate the arts into their teaching through a range of programs designed to meet
their varying needs, interests, and experience. Each year, more than 700 teachers participate in
approximately 90 courses and workshops, which are available to any teacher in the D.C.
metropolitan area. More in-depth programs take place in Kennedy Center partner schools that
have committed to a school-wide focus on arts integration. Professional learning programs
developed and refined locally through this program are shared nationally through the Kennedy
Center's Partners in Education program.
The Certificate of Study recognizes educators who have continued their professional
learning in the arts. The awards ceremony, followed by a performance by Afro Blue, will
recognize teachers from the following local school districts, as well as The Lab School of
Washington and The National Cathedral Elementary School: Alexandria City Public Schools,
VA; Arlington Public Schools, VA; Baltimore City Public Schools, MD; District of Columbia
Public Schools; Fairfax County Public Schools, VA; Montgomery County Public Schools, MD;
Prince William County Public Schools, VA; and Stafford County Public Schools, VA. A
complete list of teachers appears below.
Recipients of the 2015 Certificate of Study Award
Alexandria City Public Schools (VA)
Charles Barrett Elementary School
Amelia Abd
Lisa Ana Rodriguez Dols
Erin Waldeck
Courtnay Weitekamp
John Adams Elementary School
Alexandra Nicole Bender
Dawn M. Bingman
Julita Brown-Dunn
Nicole J. Demski
Lemore Amir Fritz
Ellen Gallagher
Andrea Nicole Handel
Sandra Intrator
Wesley McCune
Katharine McGinn
Kimberly Mott
Lindsey Serrao
Emily Smith
Kelsey Tappendorf
Susan Tremblay
Carlos A. Yancy
Charity P. Crigger
Natalia V. Dzantieva
Phyllis Elaine Edwards
Mary Erickson
Catharina Genove
Emily Hall
Lisa Hernandez
Sheryl Jones
Shanta Joshi
Anna T. Kanter
Aletha M. Keogh
Suneeta Maheshwari
Kelsey McCaw
Eve Mendolia
Kathleen Anne O'Donnell
Lynn Rohrs
Julie J. Sosa
Jinna L. Vidaurre
Judith Voegler
Mashari Khalilah Whitfield
Jesse G. Williams, Jr.
Kenmore Middle School
Dottie Lydon
Kauser Shahid
Arlington Public Schools (VA)
Abingdon Elementary School
Shannon F. Brady
Kristin M. Drabyk
Kate Neal
Baltimore City Public Schools (MD)
Sharp-Leadenhall Elementary School
Mia Svendson
Arlington Traditional School
Audrey Pinkham Benson
District of Columbia Public Schools (DC)
Takoma Education Campus
Cassandra Frey
Veronika Herman Bromberg
Drew Model Elementary School
Elvira Arnal
Payal Arora
Gwenda Atkinson
Martha Lia Azero
Kathryn Buell
Dennis Clark
Fairfax County Public Schools (VA)
Bailey’s Elementary School for the Arts
and Sciences
Catherine C. Giacomo
Rosalba Yvette Mendoza
Stephen C. Miner
Indiana Obando
Samantha Rumley
Marcela Zuniga
Canterbury Woods Elementary School
Susan B. Callahan
Jennifer Campbell
Denise F. Castillo
Lauren K. Dowd
Amber Halbfoerster
Karen Helmer
Amy Herbert
Jenny Mahen
Centreville Elementary School
Kathleen Aderholt
Theresa A. Asmussen
Cynthia Burrows
Eugenia Manoleras
Sarah Marion
Carlotta Castillo Moulder
Steven Thorne
Mantua Elementary School
Katie Graap
Woodburn School for the Fine and
Communicative Arts
Bethany Ellgass
Sarah Flaherty
Morgan N. Lingerfelt
Julia Vans
Montgomery County Public Schools (MD)
Kensington Parkwood Elementary School
Victoria Randall
Cassie Sears
Potomac Elementary School
Heidi Allen
Suzanne Bachner
Joy Bishop
Taylor Lynn DeMoss
Steven H. Parker
Rebecca S. Silverman
Prince William County Public Schools
(VA)
Occoquan Elementary School
Clare A. Phillips
Stafford County Public Schools (VA)
Hartwood Elementary School
Amy E. Atkinson
Elena D. Beard
Kelly Caldwell
Caroline F. DeMarkis
Kelley A. Dent
Brittany Dossetto
Amy Dowd
Heather H. Eland
Scott Elchenko
Jessica Flaherty
Lauren Hanahan
Laurie S. Henderson
Erin Hendricks
Stephanie Hensen
Catherine Kennedy
Leslie Lausten
Anne Mamon
Donna Rogers
Deborah A. Stilwell
Marilyn Z. Thompson
Kathleen Wallace
Allison Walton
Christina Wineski
Other
The Lab School of Washington
Lynn Gudhus
The National Cathedral Elementary
School
Judy A. Russell
EDUCATION AT THE KENNEDY CENTER
The Kennedy Center retains its commitment as the nation’s cultural center to educating and
enlightening children in Washington and around the country. The Center’s national education
programs include: Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child, which is currently working in 14
municipalities and their school districts around the country to develop a long-range strategic plan for
arts education; ARTSEDGE, a website that offers standards-based materials for use in and out of the
classroom; Partners in Education, which forges relationships between an arts organization and its
neighboring school systems to build effective arts education programs for teachers and teaching
artists; Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network works with 33 state organizations on
arts education policy issues; Explore the Arts, which provide insight into the cultural and historical
context of the works presented on stage and sparks dialogue between audiences and the artists who
have created the performances through participatory workshops, demonstrations, panels, master
classes, and open rehearsals; and the Kennedy Center/ Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher
Awards, which acknowledge teachers of grades K-12 whose efforts have made a significant impact
on their students.
Locally, the Kennedy Center’s programs include Changing Education Through the Arts, a
program that works with 15 schools in the area to affect long-term change in school culture through
professional learning in arts integration; Professional Development Opportunities for Teachers,
which trains Washington-area educators to teach the arts or other subject areas through the arts; and
Washington, D.C. Partnership Schools, where the Center provides resources and teaching artist
residencies to 20 elementary, junior, and senior high schools in Washington, D.C. The Center also
mounts more than 100 events and performances of theater, music, dance, and opera throughout the
season for more than 100,000 local school-aged children.
In addition, the Center offers multiple career development programs for young artists both
locally and nationally, including the National Symphony Orchestra’s Youth Fellowship Program,
Summer Music Institute, and High School Competition; Washington National Opera’s DomingoCafritz Young Artist Program, Opera Institute, and Kids Create Opera Partnership; the biennial New
Visions/ New Voices forum for development of new plays for young people; Exploring Ballet with
Suzanne Farrell; Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead; VSA’s Playwright Discovery Program, Young Soloists,
and Visual Arts Programs; internships and fellowships; and the Kennedy Center American College
Theater Festival which impacts hundreds of thousands of college-aged theater students across the
country and marks its 48th anniversary in 2016.
FUNDING CREDITS
Changing Education Through the Arts, part of the Rubenstein Arts Access Program, is
generously funded by David and Alice Rubenstein.
Additional support is provided The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and the U.S.
Department of Education.
Kennedy Center education and related artistic programming is made possible through the
generosity of the National Committee for the Performing Arts and the President’s Advisory
Committee on the Arts.
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PRESS CONTACT
Amanda Hunter
(202) 416-8441
[email protected]
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