Awards Presented to School Leaders at Annual Conference
To open the 2024 PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference on Sunday, October 6, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) presented its annual Pennsylvania Education Innovation Awards and the William Howard Day Award.
Initiated in 2017, the Innovation awards recognize innovative leadership in public school board governance, administration and teaching. Each winner receives a financial award from the foundation, as follows:
- Innovative School Leader Award – $1,000 award to the recipient
- Innovative Teacher Award – $1,000 award to the recipient
This year, PSBA recognized two innovative teachers and one innovative school leader. The 2024 winners are:
Innovative Teacher Award: Scott Tuffiash, high school English teacher, Avonworth School District
Mr. Tuffiash has been teaching high school students in several classes since 2007 and has also served as the English department’s curriculum leader. About two years ago, when OpenAI released Chat GPT, discussions were starting in the district on how to help students understand the tool, both how to use it and the ethical implications that come with it. Feeling the need to understand the tool completely himself before teaching his students, Mr. Tuffiash embarked on an intense research journey to learn all he could, research that brought him to conversations with experts in a broad range of professions. His research led him to develop not one but two courses, AI & Ethics and a Human Flourishing course, allowing the district to offer students a complete and well-rounded education in AI. Avonworth assistant superintendent, Jillian Bichsel, who nominated Mr. Tuffiash, expressed just how lucky the district feels to have a teacher like him in its ranks, dedicated to adapting and developing curriculum that is truly preparing students for their future in a modern world.
Innovative Teacher Award: Joy Crouch, elementary teacher, Freedom Area School District
Citing her forward-thinking approach to engaging and inspiring her students, Freedom Area board president Sharon Geibel nominated Ms. Crouch for her efforts to help her second graders understand and appreciate the diversity that makes up America through hands-on activities and immersive experiences. Ms. Crouch submitted grant applications for field trip opportunities for her students. She developed a passport unit that allowed the children to explore food, languages, flags and the history of 12 different countries. Further, she engaged students through their families, inviting parents, grandparents and other relatives to present in class about their ethnic backgrounds and cultures, and worked with high school Spanish educators to pair high school students with hers to teach Spanish words.
Innovative School Leader Award: Dr. Charles Lentz, superintendent, New Hope-Solebury School District
Dr. Lentz was nominated by board president Judeth Finn with significant praise of several initiatives and objectives he has put forth for the district, particularly his dedication and enthusiasm for STEAM and career readiness programs, including the introduction of a K-12 STEAM continuum curriculum, complete with an elementary course that implements design, coding, robotics and drones through opportunities for high school students to utilize a newly renovated STEAM wing and participate in Engineering Club. Not only is he invested in outcomes for the students, but Dr. Lentz has taken a collegial approach to engaging all district personnel with a “Successfully Failing Forward” philosophy that encourages collaboration and investment among staff. Beyond the staff and students, Dr. Lentz routinely invites community stakeholders to engage in conversation and get involved with the district’s initiatives.
Uri Monson, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Budget, was this year’s recipient of the William Howard Day Award.
In 2015, the Pennsylvania Public Education Foundation created the award to honor the first African American school board director in the United States and a resident of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Day served the Harrisburg City School Board for six terms starting in 1878 and was a member of the Pennsylvania State Directors’ Association, the predecessor of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA). The award recognizes outstanding contributions to public education by individuals, groups or organizations across the commonwealth.
Secretary Monson has served as the Pennsylvania Secretary of the Budget since January 2023, but his career in public service spans nearly 30 years, beginning as a program analyst for the United States Department of Education. Later, as the Deputy Superintendent of Operations and Chief Financial Officer for the School District of Philadelphia, Secretary Monson led the efforts to improve the district’s financial outlook, allowing the district to return to local city control and achieved an investment level credit rating since 1977. His other roles in budget management and financial stewardship helped uniquely position him to serve the commonwealth of Pennsylvania as Secretary of the Budget, at the helm of a balanced financial plan.
