The IB Language and Literature team earned an FCPS Excellence Award for student achievements in their classrooms. The Excellence Award is for individuals and groups that are nominated in one of four categories: innovation, impact on others, growth and student achievement.
“This year we had 10 individuals and 10 teams receive the [Excellence] award, a total of 73 individuals,” FCPS Human Resources team member Elisabeth Boivin said.
Once nominated, the group or individual goes through a screening by a committee representing personnel from a variety of locations and positions across the school system who evaluate all of the nominees against the criteria and select recipients of the award.
“After I read the email from the county [that we won the award], I just stood there and cried,” IB Language and Literature teacher Samantha Nims said.
The recipients attended a ceremony on May 3 to accept their award and celebrate their efforts towards building an engaging English course.
“[The IB Language and Literature department] have made, and will continue to make, an enormous effort to build a course that fosters student engagement and supports academic success,” Nims said. “I’m truly blessed to be a member of a team of brilliant, caring, innovative educators who care so much about our students.”
This school year is the first time FCPS is offering the IB Language and Literature class at Marshall. Now every class, starting with the class of 2018, will graduate with at least one IB course completed. The Language and Literature program gives all students the opportunity to participate in the rigorous IB program at a manageable level.
“The grade descriptors don’t just focus on test scores,” junior and IB Language and Literature student Sam Naeher said. “[That] makes me feel like I’m learning more.”
Junior Clara Cebral-Marani said the department worked hard to aid each student in their success, while still enjoying the learning process.
“The teachers deserved the award because they make the class fun and interesting by giving us cool projects and showing us videos,” Cebral-Marani said.