ING Unsung Heroes® 2012 Award Winners

Walker’s innovative “Star Check and Connect” program was created to assist students at Paducah Middle School who struggle academically as a result of behavior issues. The program pairs students with mentors that check in with them throughout the day, providing students with an outlet where they can feel safe to express their feelings and ask for help. Mentors check in with students each morning to discuss how the day began for them, ensuring that they got a good night’s rest, ate a nutritious breakfast and have their homework and materials ready for class.

Gay’s inventive winning program, “Environmental Appraisal of the Emerald Necklace Park System,” aims to help students at the Boston Latin School (BLS) make connections to the global issues of climate change and sustainability by relating them to the local urban environment of Boston and conducting an annual environmental appraisal of the Emerald Necklace Park (ENP) system. BLS is located in the heart of the park system which boasts more than 1,000 acres of diverse ecosystems.

Duffy’s winning program, “Hearing to Deaf: Enrichment and Understanding,” is designed to provide laptops for hearing students at the McLean School of Maryland with Skype capability so that they can communicate with deaf students their age at schools for the hearing-impaired around the country. The project is an innovative way to have hearing students and hearing-impaired teens come together to form bonds of friendship and understanding. The project attempts to immerse students in a very unique situation where using American Sign Language is the primary means of communication.

Gospodarek’s winning project, “Hometown Ecology,” takes a multi-faceted approach to teaching ecology that will connect students to their environment through hands-on learning. The goal of the project is to help students become vested members of their environment by investigating, analyzing and exploring local ecosystems. The project will link activities through math, science and social studies and provide an opportunity for students to connect with local scientists.

Hillaker’s winning program, “Project E.A.R.T.H.: Environmental Awareness Reaching Teen Homes,” is designed to raise environmental awareness, sustainability and promote stewardship among teens. The project begins with students identifying a polluted or underdeveloped piece of land in the community to transform into an outdoor learning center, also known as “place-based learning.” “Project E.A.R.T.H.” provides an innovative way to expand learning opportunities to ‘at-risk’ youth while strengthening the community, improving achievement and decreasing inner city drop-out rates.

Koopman and her partners’ winning program, “Walking in Someone Else’s Shoes,” aims to help children work on their writing skills and teach them about the immigrant experience. The project will span generations and cultures as both elementary school children and a high school art class combine forces to write and illustrate publishable books. A variety of guest speakers will visit the elementary students. Students will have the opportunity to learn about the role books play or haven’t had the opportunity to play in other countries, in their community and around the world.

Hill’s winning program, “Community Caretakers,” engages students in the service-learning process to identify needs in the community. Service-learning is an instructional method that engages young people in service to their communities as a means of enriching their academic learning, promoting personal growth and helping students develop the skills needed to be productive citizens. “Community Caretakers” requires students to apply the skills they have learned by designing and implementing service-learning projects to meet a need they have identified in the community.

“PUSH: Peers United to Stay in High School” is Farley’s winning program. It is a mentoring program that is student initiated. The purpose of the program is to decrease Western Harnett High dropout rates by providing tutoring, mentoring and support. The PUSH program aims to help students graduate high school, build a sense of community on campus and help seniors navigate the college application and scholarship process. Students in the program will utilize Apple iPad technology to research scholarships, career and training opportunities plus enrich PUSH tutoring efforts.

Szypula and her colleagues’ creative, new “Saturday Morning Science Show” program, takes a “by kids, for kids” approach with high school students. The program involves directing and filming Fernwood Middle School students as they teach elementary school students science concepts through exciting, interactive experiments. With assistance from teachers, students will be actively involved in all facets of producing the “Saturday Morning Science Show,” including mastering science concepts, performing experiments, directing, filming and script writing.