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Inge Chichester Named MCPS Teacher of the Year

May 15, 2020

Sligo Middle School teacher Inge Chichester was named the 2020–2021 MCPS Teacher of the Year during the MCPS Teacher of the Year virtual celebration on May 15.

Chichester is the World Studies content specialist at Sligo Middle School. She is a 19-year veteran of MCPS, and will now go on to compete for Maryland Teacher of the Year.

Chichester expects greatness from her students and is a fierce advocate for them. She supports them and holds them accountable. She listens to them, and has a special ability to make them see and believe in their own growth and capabilities. She talks with them about self-care and strategies to ensure success. She brings compassion to the job and actively seeks out students in need of academic support. She greets all students as they come through the main doors every morning with a bullhorn. She ends every student conversation with her motto: ‘I love you to life!’ Her classroom feels like a family. In planning meetings, she challenges teachers to be risk takers in the classroom and pushes them to offer lessons that are more than “good enough.” Colleagues, students and parents call her a superstar. One teacher called her the “contagious positive,” something you will catch if you hang around her long enough. She spearheads the school’s career day, coordinates the 7th grade field trip to Junior Achievement’s Finance Park and hosts two AmeriCorps volunteers.

Chichester was one of three finalists for Teacher of the Year, along with Annie Moore, kindergarten teacher at Farmland Elementary School, and Rodney Van Tassell, social studies resource teacher at Winston Churchill High School. The Marian Greenblatt Education Fund named the finalists.

MCPS is planning to host its annual Champions for Children celebration, which honors the exceptional work of educators and community partners who make a difference in the lives of children, in the late summer/early fall at Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club. At the event, the Teacher of the Year along with other honorees, will be recognized.

All of the Teacher of the Year finalists receive $2,000 from the Greenblatt Educational Fund. Chichester will also receive a cash prize from the MCPS Educational Foundation.

 

 

 

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