Every year we seek nominations from each campus and our ACE program looking for outstanding adjunct faculty. We get amazing nominations from every location and it’s hard to pick sometimes.
This year’s NISOD Master Teacher award winners are listed below. If you know them or see them, say “Thank you” for a job well done!
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The Arcade Campus is pleased to nominate Pam Duttweiler ASL instructor for this year’s NISOD nomination. Pam brings several strengths to her sign language classes. Her positive and enthusiastic spirit make it a pleasure to work with her. Students give her high praise for the respect and expertise that she shares with them regarding sign language studies. Her classroom is transformed to a true learning community when she and her students are working on their course material. Students benefit regularly from the guests that visit their classes. These guests are hearing impaired people who help students practice their skills along with sharing insights into their everyday lives. Other visitors include professionals working in hearing impaired related services and those providing services to hearing impaired people. Outside of the traditional classroom, Pam makes a extra effort to make sure our students benefit from related cultural experiences as well, leading student groups to performances in Batavia and Rochester. We are honored to have Pam Duttweiler teach for Genesee Community College at the Arcade campus.
Dr. Deborah M. DiNoto
Associate Dean of Instruction
Genesee Community College at Arcade
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Nomination of Karen Todd for the 2011 NISOD Master Teacher Award
Submitted by Allen R. Kidder, Associate Dean, Genesee Community College at Albion
Karen Todd deserves this award because of her commitment to effective teaching and student learning. A dedicated and enthusiastic adjunct faculty member who is passionate about her field, Karen currently teaches studio art courses including: ART 101 (Intro to Visual Art); ART 105 (Two-Dimensional Design); ART 110/111 (Drawing 1 & 2); and ART 114/115 (Painting 1 & 2) for the College at the Albion Campus Center. She also teaches ART 101 as part of the College Today Program for high school students at Albion and ART 104 (Art History 2) at the Batavia Campus.
Karen leads by example both in and out of the classroom. Karen put on her own solo art show, “Acrylic Perspectives in Color”, at the Albion Campus Gallery, which immediately preceded her students’ Spring Art Show. Karen, and the other members of her West Side String Quartet, provided live chamber music for students, faculty and local dignitaries at the Albion Campus 20th Anniversary Celebration in April 2010. Karin also plays for the Genesee Symphony Orchestra and several other music groups.
Karen is a very creative, inspired, and patient instructor with a positive attitude and a passion for Art. Her supportive approach and encouraging guidance in the studio and classroom are readily apparent to everyone. Karen is an effective instructor who supplements her studio instruction with the use of her multi-media “smart classroom”. She focuses on development and expression of artistic skills, student learning and student success.
The student evaluations show that Karen is a caring, effective, well-respected, and well-liked instructor. When asked “Was this class intellectually stimulating? Did it stretch your thinking?” the students responded:
- “Ms. Todd is very good at making you think outside of the box creatively.
- “We had good class discussions.”
- “It made me aware of painters and paintings that I never would have discovered on my own.”
- “Super deep concentration on artists and technique.”
- “The projects required a lot of creativity.”
When asked “What aspect of this class contributed most to your learning?” the students responded as follows:
- “I enjoy it very much, and look forward to it every week.”
- “I found the creativeness factor to be valuable in my learning.”
- “Teacher kept everything interesting.”
- “Ms. Todd is an excellent instructor. A valuable asset to the GCC team.”
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Nomination of Maria Sebastian for the 2011 NISOD Master Teacher Award
Submitted by James J. Simon, Associate Dean, Genesee Community College at Medina
Maria Sebastian deserves this award because of her consistent commitment to educational excellence and her tireless dedication to assisting students. Whether she’s preparing her lessons in English literature or writing music and lyrics for one of her five well-received original music CDs, Maria is a devoted teacher and artist.
Maria’s educational and musical experiences are impressive. She earned her Master of Arts in Humanities concentrating on English and Media Arts at the University of Buffalo. Maria has been teaching Introduction to Composition and College Composition for Genesee Community College since 2007. She also teaches for Niagara County Community College, and has taught for Villa Maria College and the Global Concepts Charter School in Buffalo, NY. Maria is an accomplished musician and the recipient of 14 music awards in the Western New York region including 12 Buffalo / Nightlife Music Awards, 1 People’s Choice Award, and 1 Buffalo Spree Album of the Year Award for her Yellow Envelope CD, 2009. Additionally, her eclectic pop-rock-retro music has been placed in television and film.
The lines between her music, literature, writing and teaching – for Maria – are intermingled. As she recently put it, “… my literature interests have seeped into my songwriting.” Her most recent works include characters, authors, and thinkers often studied in the classroom. Students in any of Maria’s writing groups, whether the course is remedial, composition based, or an introduction to literature, are introduced to inspiring works by Maya Angelou, Dr. King, Mitch Albom, Amy Tan, Tillie Olsen, Brent Staples and others. She uses songwriters John Prine, Lucinda Williams, and others to teach students to incorporate imagery into their writing. She aims to teach students to write descriptively as they tell stories of lessons learned and memorable events. Maria scoffs at the idea that grammar is not taught in some writing courses: “If most of the world isn’t getting it right, which is evident on every menu, billboard, and online newspaper, I owe it to my students to–at the very least–remind them of how a lack of care with regard to punctuation and grammar can diminish an otherwise careful presentation.” Maria has written CD reviews for various music magazines, and has served as a consultant for area music award committees. She is also the mother of two very grammatically-aware children.
The student evaluations demonstrate the powerful and positive impact Maria has on her students. She is a highly respected and effective instructor. When asked whether they enjoyed her classes this year, her students responded as follows:
- I learned so much in this class – it really got me thinking!
- She really made you think about how and why to write.
- The instructor talks about styles of writing and ways of thinking that I never really gave much thought to.
- I have never really been interested in English classes, but this class really got me to think more and become more interested.
- I think Maria does an excellent job teaching.
- I think this class was a great class – the teacher was funny and great!
- This class rocks, really!
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Lima campus nominates John Molyneux instructs English, Literature and Public Speaking classes at Lima Campus Center. A favorite of his students, Mr. Molyneux is a gentleman and a scholar. Students follow Mr. Molyneux, registering for as many courses as he offers each semester. He is a caring professional, maintaining appropriate decorum while attending to individual success strategies for each student. It is not uncommon to hear students continue outside the classroom, discussing topics from Mr. Molyneux’s class. Mr. Molyneux has the unique ability to bring humor to the rudiments of his courses, assuring that students consistently find the classroom environment to be lively and convivial. Mr. Molyneux’s personal interests are varied; he is an avid student of history, an actor, a coin collector and a wonderful cook. His openness to the richness of life inspires his students to take their learning experiences to new levels. It is our distinct privilege to have John Molyneux instruct the students of GCC’s Lima Campus Center!
Monica Mattioli
Lima Campus Center
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Cathie Hogan, ACE Programs instructor, has been teaching at Lyndonville High School for 36 years with 16 of those years teaching for ACE Programs through both the Advanced Studies Program and for College Tech Prep Programs. She has taught several GCC courses through ACE Programs including Introduction to Business, Personal Money Management and First Year Experience. Thanks to all her extra efforts and many talents as an educator, Cathie has provided college credit opportunities to hundreds of students in Lyndonville High School, cumulatively saving them well over one hundred thousand dollars in college tuition costs.
Cathie is the type of teacher who is always looking for new ideas, programs and other means of enhancing her students’ education and experiences. She has high expectations of her students and motivates them to reach their potential while at the same time making her lessons engaging and interesting.
Cathie worked with College Tech Prep and the other Business instructors to develop the Virtual Enterprise program in the GLOW Region that began in September 2003. She has led Lyndonville High School’s Virtual Company, M3 (Movies, Music and More) ever since. As a direct result of Cathie’s leadership in the past 8 years her students have won Virtual Enterprise awards in the Rochester Region too numerous to count. Her students have also worked hard to fundraise throughout the year so they could attend the International Trade Fair in New York City 7 of the 8 years she has taught the program and been honored with numerous awards there as well.
Cathie is very deserving of the NISOD award for her dedication to her students and her profession, as well as the level of excellence in teaching that she has exhibited. There are many students from Lyndonville High School who are better for having her as a teacher.
Ed Levinstein
ACE Programs
