For Immediate Release: September 23, 2004

GOVERNOR MINNER ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF SIXTH ANNUAL
GOVERNOR'S AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Dover, September 23, 2004 – Governor Minner announced the 16 winners of the Sixth Annual Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Early Care and Education, which reward exceptional early care providers for shaping the lives of children in their care.

“I know you are providing more than just a safe place for children to stay while their parents are at work,” Gov. Minner told the winners and nominees at a banquet at the Dover Sheraton. “You are providing them with a firm educational foundation that will benefit them for a lifetime.”

The awards were created by the Women and the Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association. “The Women and the Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association created these awards five years ago to publicly recognize and thank with cold, hard cash the early care educators who do such tremendous work and provide female attorneys with the ability to do our work,” said Claire M. DeMatteis of the Women and the Law Section.

DeMatteis said the group assembled a committee of childcare experts in 1999 to develop the criteria for the Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Early Care and Education. The committee included experts from the National Institute on Early Childhood Education, the University of Delaware, Delaware Technical & Community College, The Family & Workplace Connection, the Delaware Department of Education, the state Office of Child Care Licensing, as well as community and business leaders.

The awards go to childcare centers, family childcare providers, and teachers from child care centers in each of the three counties. An extensive and thorough nomination form was submitted for each winner. Nominees were screened through the nomination forms, as well as on-site visits. The winners were chosen from more than 100 nominations.

The winners are as follows:

Child Care Centers

Kent County:

1 st place – Polytech Little Panthers Preschool (Woodside)

New Castle County:

1 st place – Ursuline Extended Day Program (Wilmington)

2 nd place – Lessons Learned (Union Street, Wilmington)

Sussex County:

1 st place – Child Craft Company (Seaford)

2 nd place – S.P.L.A.S.H. Bayshore Day School (Millsboro)

Family Child Care

Kent County:

1 st place – Laura Holmes (Smyrna)

New Castle County:

1 st place – Shirley Lee (Newark)

2 nd place – Sharon Williams (Newark)

Sussex County:

1 st place – Karen Bell (Seaford)

2 nd place – Linda Morrow (Milford)

Teacher from a Center or Preschool

Kent County:

1 st place – Susan McColgan (St. John’s Lutheran Preschool, Dover)

2 nd place – Maria Cruz (Corporate Kids Learning Center, Dover)

New Castle County:

1 st place – Tara Sutton (University of Delaware Laboratory Preschool, Newark)

2 nd place (tie) – Laura Morris (University of Delaware Laboratory Preschool, Newark)

2 nd place (tie) – Brenda Yoder (Concord Preschool & Child Care, Wilmington)

Sussex County:

1 st place – Maria Hammond (Three Bears Nursery, Georgetown)

 

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