As another school year comes to a close, Orange County Public Schools would like to share some recent professional achievements by some of its employees this spring.
Dr. Vickie Cartwright, Associate Superintendent of Exceptional Student Education, was elected as the Vice President of Division H, Research, Evaluation and Assessment (AERA) in Schools. AERA was founded in 1916 and has over 25,000 members internationally. Members include professionals with expertise in education research and work in a range of settings from federal and state agencies to school systems, higher education institutions, research institutes, nonprofit organizations, and testing companies. Because the organization is so large with diverse focus areas, AERA is broken into 12 divisions with a Vice President for each one. Dr. Cartwright will serve as Vice President for three years from April 2017- April 2020. Under Dr. Cartwright’s tenure, Division H will be celebrating its 50 year anniversary. Division H’s focus is for individuals conducting applied research and evaluation studies along with assessment and accountability activities in the PreK-12 settings.
Scott Evans, Visual and Performing Arts senior administrator, was elected president of the Florida Music Supervisors Association (FMSA). The Florida Music Supervision Association exists to assist music educators throughout Florida, not just those fortunate enough to have an arts administrator in their school district. The FMSA is a “brain trust’ consisting of some of Florida’s most talented music educators. Scott Evans began his Florida music education career as an elementary music teacher, moved on to teach choral in middle school, then at the high school level. He left public education for a short period to become the founding director of the Orange County Arts Education Center where he shaped much policy between the school system and the cultural community. In 2010, Mr. Evans came back to Orange County Public Schools. As a fine arts education administrator he has created arts education opportunities for every child in Orange County Public Schools. His influence has even grown to the national level with his work with the Kennedy Center of the Arts.
Catalina Elementary School principal Seth Daub will serve as President-elect for the Florida Association of Elementary and Middle School Principals (FAEMSP) for the 2017-2018 school year. He will take over as President during the 2018-2019 school year. He will represent Orange County Public Schools and all elementary and middle school principals statewide on the Florida Association of School Administrators Executive Board. Seth Daub has been the principal of Catalina Elementary School since February 2016, serving over 730 students. Prior to his current role, Mr. Daub was the principal of Castle Creek Elementary School from August 2012 to January 2016. In 2014, Mr. Daub received the Orange County Association of Educational Media Distinguished Administrator Award as well as the 2015 Elementary School Administrator of the Year Award from the Orange County School Counseling Association.
Timber Creek High School principal Kelly Paduano was awarded Principal of the Year by the Florida Association of Student Councils. This was Dr. Paduano’s first year as principal at Timber Creek after serving as the assistant principal over instruction at Timber Creek. Timber Creek Student Government members said she is their biggest supporter and has been their largest proponent in the development and success of their program. Recently, she created a student leadership team, made up of the student body’s preeminent leaders. Their purpose is to find challenges that the school and students are facing and suggest solutions to these problems. The students said most importantly, Dr. Paduano makes a tremendous effort to not just to be an administrator, but to be a mentor. Dr. Paduano was honored with her award earlier this year during the Florida Association of Student Councils state convention.
Eric Yuhasz, an Engineering and Aviation teacher from Howard Middle School, was awarded the Air Force Association Martin H. Harris Chapter 2017 Teacher of the Year. The Chapter recognized Mr. Yuhasz for his dedication to STEM education,” said Gary Lehmann, President of the Martin H. Harris Chapter. Mr. Yuhasz continues to make a difference in the lives of students and in our community and we are thankful for his efforts.” The Air Force Association recognizes teachers at the Chapter, State and National levels. The school’s Project Lead the Way teacher, Yuhasz is also part of the Space Academy for Educators, and works with such industry leaders as Lockheed Martin, NASA, American Geosciences Institute and the Florida Solar Energy Center. This year, Mr. Yuhasz was also a district finalists for Orange County Public Schools Teacher of the Year.
