1997 KCTS Golden Apple Award Winners

• Individuals
• Projects

INDIVIDUALS

Lance J. Balla, Teacher
Snohomish High School, Snohomish

Lance Balla is no stranger to controversy. When the use of an award-winning novel in his high school English class was challenged in his community he fought for his students' right to read good literature without bias. When Snohomish High School needed a drama director, Lance filled in, with no prior experience. His dedication goes far beyond the school day and normal curriculum. He has taken students to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and to other memorable places. This and many other accomplishments explain his nomination and selection for the Presidential Inspirational Teacher Award, given by President Clinton. Lance Balla has been described by his peers and students as inspirational, dedicated, exuberant teachers of his time.

Noemi Ban, Lessons from the Holocaust
Bellingham, Washington

Noemi Ban is a survivor. She has survived one of the most horrifying experiences imaginable; the Holocaust. She was deported in 1944 to Auschwitz in Poland. there, she lost all of her loved ones. Noemi was then taken to a slave labor camp in Buchenwald, Germany. Seven months later, the American Army liberated her. She then fulfilled her dream of becoming a teacher. She taught 5th through 8th-grade boys for two years before having to flee from Hungary to Austria. Months later she and her family ended up in America. Noemi has more than 30 years of dedicated teaching to her credit. She is now retired from classroom teaching and for the last eight years has been visiting schools, civic and church groups to teach the lessons of the Holocaust. Noemi has spoken in more than 120 schools in several counties in Washington state. Everyone who hears her testimonial is touched by her thoughtfulness, love and compassion for all people. She gives the students hope, and as one high school student said, "the will to go on and the openness to value every human life."

Euhania Butler Hairston, Principal
Martin Luther King Elementary, Seattle

Principal Euhania Butler Hairston has said "yes" to many ideas in developing a new Martin Luther King Elementary school. When she first came to the school, there were fewer than 100 children enrolled, and test scores were way below the district average. With her dedication and belief that all children can learn she has brought in various programs designed to increase reading, writing, math and science skills. Euhania has forged a partnership with neighboring schools that has resulted in community awareness, neighborhood beautification projects, joint staff training, high school tutoring for M.L. King students and much more. She has been a continuing link between the school and its supportive community.

Jeff Estes, Project Director
Science Alive Elementary Teacher Leadership Project, Richland

Science Alive is an elementary science teacher training program that designed to strengthen science teaching in schools. Jeff Estes has worked with this innovative project from the beginning. He has worked with nearly two dozen teams of elementary teachers serving more than 10,000 students. Jeff is committed to his teachers and students. They learn science by doing science; much of the training takes place during summer months and on weekends. According to his trainees, Jeff makes science fun by using live science scenarios. The teachers then take the knowledge and skills and transfer them to their classrooms in ways that make science "come alive."

Joan Dore, District Lead
Seattle Schools Reading Campaign, Seattle

The goal of the Seattle Reading Campaign is to make "Every Child a Reader." With Joan Dore as the leader of this outstanding campaign, children of the community are well on their way. Joan took the Reading Campaign from its birth and developed the campaign into a city-wide program that now involves more than 47,000 students, 100 schools and various community groups. The campaign helps teachers, families and the community better serve and support students through reading. With the recruitment of the Alliance for Education, Joan has helped secure input and support for the Reading Campaign. She has implemented a 20/20 program that encourages students to increase reading skills by reading an extra 20+ minutes a day for 20+ days per month. Through her tenacious dedication and enthusiasm, she has gained active support from the Seattle SuperSonics, Seadogs, and Mariners. Joan has made the act of reading important to everyone.

GROUP/PROJECTS

Drama Outreach Program
Lynda Belt, Teacher
Puyallup High School, Puyallup

The Puyallup High School Drama Outreach Program uses "theater in action" techniques to reach and educate other students about current social issues. Lynda Belt, the director of this phenomenal project and her students use innovative drama techniques, peer and cross-age teaching, and fostering of decision-making skills to encourage healthy choices. This group does an exceptional job of interacting with the student audience and identifying top concerns such as drug use, relationships, depression and sex-related issues. Students and teachers alike enjoy the creative methods of this program.

Generation WHY
Dennis Harper, Project Director
Olympia School District, Olympia

WHY The name of this unique program is enough to make one wonder. Generation WHY takes the new youth of today and teaches them how to succeed in the world of tomorrow. This innovative program is made up of students, teachers, local community support groups and corporate sponsors who hope to educate through telecommunications. The intense semester course teaches students in grades 6-12 the technology, mentoring and lesson-planning skills that enable them to mentor a teacher during a school day. The goal of this plan is to integrate technology into everyday lessons all across the state.

Morgen Owings Elementary School
Jeff Peck, Principal
Chelan

Morgen Owings Elementary School has caught many an eye with its excellent curriculum and staff. This creative primary has implemented various classroom techniques to serve all the needs of its students. It offers multi-age, continuous progress and bilingual classes, and operates a summer program that every child in the school is able to attend. MOE has developed an active Readiness to Learn project that reflects the school's concerns about its students' and families' social, emotional and health needs.

CHILD (Children's Institute for Learning Differences)
Trina Westerlund, Founder/Director
CHILD School/New Heights School
Mercer Island

CHILD believes that children should be helped before they fail. It began as a program to keep at-risk children from failing in elementary school, with a focus on preschool, kindergarten and first-grade children with disabilities. CHILD progressed beyond conventional public school education, mixing children with various types of special needs in multi-age groups. Today the school offers many new and creative methods and strategies for teaching these special children, not only basic skills such as reading, math and geography, but meaningful interaction with their peers and an understanding of the world.

The Experimental Gallery
Susan Warner & Robert Sotelo, Founders
Seattle Children's Museum

The Experimental Gallery brings the arts and museums into institutional schools throughout the state. It also brings out the artist in at-risk students. The young people who participate in the program are incarcerated juveniles and troubled youth. The Experimental Gallery gives them an outlet-a place to show themselves through their art. A study conducted by the University of Washington has shown that students participating in the Experimental Gallery arts program demonstrate a marked improvement in behavior and less frequency of disciplinary problems.

PemcoThe KCTS Golden Apple Awards are sponsored by KCTS Television and are made possible through funding from PEMCO Insurance.