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March 1, 2003 DIVISION
ON VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS’ TEACHER OF THE YEAR AWARD
The Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Visual Impairments
is proud to present the Teacher of the Year Award to Judy R. Cernkovich
at the International Conference in Seattle on April 10, 2003.
Ms. Cernkovich is a teacher and consultant for preschool children with
blindness and visual impairments. For
over 20 years, she has been an educator, advocate, and dedicated activist for
the families and children with visual impairments.
Ms.
Cernkovich was instrumental in establishing the only program for infant,
toddler, and preschool children with visual impairments in rural Ohio.
She is an original member of Ohio Goal 1 Subcommittee for the National
Agenda and has been involved in Babies Count: National Registry for Children
with Visual Impairment Birth to Three. As
a valued member of the Early Childhood Special Needs team at the Wood County
Educational Service Center, Ms. Cernkovich participates in screening all
children who come through the play-based assessment.
She shows unfailing enthusiasm, ingenuity, and compassion, and shares her
wealth of knowledge with families and colleagues.
In addition, she is the first person to volunteer her time for the good
of the organization and families, and gives generously to the community at the
local, state, national, and professional levels. Through
her daily work with and for families and children, Ms. Cernkovich has provided
leadership in the Ohio AER chapter for over ten years.
During that time, she organized and ran three state AERO conferences and
in November, completed her two-year term as president.
In 2001, she was awarded the J. Kenneth Cozier Memorial Award for her
tireless efforts and is now president-elect of AER Division 16 – Itinerant
Teachers. For
the past five years Ms. Cernkovich has been involved with the OSEP Early
Childhood Special Education personnel preparation project at Bowling Green State
University. As such, she plays a
major role in preparing graduate students to work with young children, birth to
five years old with visual impairments. Whether
Ms. Cernkovich is co-teaching university courses designed to train future
teachers, making home visits, or conducting preschool assessments she is
distinguished from her peers by her persistence, determination, and profound
belief in the worth of each child with whom she works.
She is able to instruct and inform children and adults from all
backgrounds with respect and dignity. Ms.
Cernkovich is a role model in the field of blindness and visual impairments.
It is with great pleasure that the Division on Visual Impairments awards
Judy R. Cernkovich the DVI Teacher of the Year Award
for 2003. *
* * * * * * * * * * * * For further information about the Division on Visual Impairments’ Teacher of the Year Award, please contact Dr. Stuart Wittenstein at (510) 794-3816. |