Putnam County native receives teaching award
BARNESVILLE, Ohio -- Former Putnam County resident Abigail Chew was awarded the George G. Skinner and Lela Skinner Bailey Teaching Development Award for professional development. The award is given each year to a teacher in the Barnesville School District to acknowledge teachers who go "the extra mile."
Dick Skinner presented the award at the opening faculty meeting held at Olney Friends School
Chew received a glowing nomination for the award, which read, in part:
"Abby is a peer exemplar, teaching classes outside of her area, going to workshops and conferences to support her teaching, chairing the humanities department, coordinating the curriculum, modeling best practices in her classroom and leading the faculty toward a curricular and practical approach to sustainable living.
"Abby takes remarkable initiative in her classroom. She initiated a link between her ninth grade humanities class and the ninth grade biology class. This cross-disciplinary approach has made it possible for students to see connections among art, history, social science and biology; the linkage goes by the theme of 'Survival.'
"She has been very responsive to the international students in her classes, going the extra mile to both integrate their perspectives, and share Western/American perspectives. She is the most resourceful person on the entire staff for seeing opportunities and following through on bringing in outside presenters."
Chew's parents still reside in Reelsville.