Iowa Association of Alternative Education

2010 Awards and Grants
Supporting Struggling Adolescent Readers through the SCAVO Grant Program

Every year the IAAE provides seed money to alternative schools and programs to jump start efforts to improve. Through the Vincent C Scavo grant program last year, we provided several schools with exercise equipment. This year the association will provide Northeast Alternative High School with $500 to purchase high interest books to add to their “library”.

2010 Educator of the Year Award

Barbara Walker, Science Teacher Extraordinaire is the 2010 Educator of the Year award recipient. She taught over 20 years before crossing over into the alternative education arena. She had been told by others that they did not think she could relate to at-risk students. How wrong they were and how lucky for the students she serves. She has a passion for science and a wealth of experience teaching science at any level. She is ahead of the curve in sprucing up the curriculum, engaging and challenging students with projects involving hot air balloons, boat races, magic shows, recycling, and dissecting hearts and lungs from the local meat packing plant. Over the years she has been involved in mentoring, staff development, service learning and presenting at many alternative conferences. She has participated in numerous selective teaching institutes and was one of ten individuals selected to be a National Polymer Ambassador in 1999 and continues in that position. Barbara has been published twice, most recently in the April 2010 Journal of Chemical Education. Her love of teaching is endless. At the end of the school day, with an excited look in her eyes, she will say, “Come here for just a minute, why don’t ya. I’ve got something interesting to show you.”. She continues to get excited when she passes a little of her love of chemistry on to a student. Her colleagues also love when she tells uninterested boys that she may not be as pretty as the girls in the back of the room but she is smarter and if they sit in the front of the room, they might just learn something. Barbara teaches at the Ottumwa Alternative School.

Dedication and Encouragement Embody Jim Fenton Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

Over the past twenty years or more, Greg McCullough’s career has been about promoting and improving alternative education, while encouraging others to do the same. As was stated by a friend, “His passion carries through life and work. He believes in people and supports them, no matter what, and helps individuals to see the good in themselves and what they can accomplish.” He has helped to improve alternative education by organizing and hosting our annual Risky Business Conference. Under his leadership it has grown to be one of the largest one-day educational conferences in the state. He has been a main organizer of our state two-day conference held every spring. Greg has served as IAAE President and has encouraged many of us to run for a position on the board. He has established and coordinated an annual legislative day allowing lawmakers to learn about alternative schools and success stories. Greg has organized and conducted meetings for administrators to network. He works, often out of the spotlight, to help individuals, alternative programs, and schools as they try to understand how best to meet the many new rules and regulations imposed on them by state and federal governments. He skillfully uses his tried and true coaching skills to get as many of us to fulfill our team goals as alternative educators to focus our efforts on how to best serve at-risk students. His most significant contribution has been to help thousands of students, first as the Supervisor of the Youth At-Risk Consortium at Heartland AEA 11 and now with DMACC. As a colleague so aptly put it, “Greg’s work has truly supported the growth and development of many at-risk students in their pursuit to become productive Iowa citizens.”

--submitted by Lisa Demuth