Principal of Denny International Middle School Jeff Clark shared via letter the announcement that Denny teacher Leticia Clausen has been selected as the winner of the 2012 Phillip P. Swain Excellence in Education Award. The Philip B. Swain Student Scholarship, funded by family and friends through an endowment, honors Philip Swain, a passionate and lifelong advocate for public education. He devoted 20 years of public service to these efforts, including 14 years as a member of the Seattle School Board (1961-1975). On the School Board, he provided valuable leadership and guidance to the district. It is the wish of his family and friends that an award be made each year, subject to availability of endowment earnings, in the amount of $1,000 to a graduating senior in Seattle Public Schools.

One $1,000 scholarship is awarded per year and is renewable for three additional years upon maintaining a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 and a one-half time class load.

Principal Clarks letter:

It is a great pleasure to announce that Ms. Leticia Clausen is a winner of the 2012 Philip P. Swain Excellence in Education Award!

Award Description
The yearly award is given to Seattle Public Schools secondary teachers or counselors who exemplify the qualities and values that distinguished Mr. Swain’s years of community stewardship. Teachers or counselors who are nominated are staff who inspire a love of learning in students while helping them reach their highest academic potential.

It was an honor for me to nominate Ms. Clausen for this award for the following reasons:

When Denny became an international school, Ms. Clausen quickly volunteered to serve as our dual-language Spanish teacher. This program is intended to give our scholars, who are fortunate enough to already speak Spanish, a chance to learn social studies and language arts in Spanish at school. This approach will help our students to be bilingual and bi-literate, while mastering academic concepts in both languages.

Even though we were starting this program without curricular materials in Spanish, Ms. Clausen was excited to start right away (without a year for planning). She did this for one reason: she knew this was what was best for our kids and knew that they didn’t have any time to waste.

We are now in our third year of Spanish dual-language. Remarkably, Ms. Clausen teaches this block class at all three grade levels! The program is flourishing—academic achievement is rising—and our families are thrilled to have this opportunity!

On behalf of the entire Denny International community, congratulations, Ms. Clausen!

Sincerely,

Jeff Clark, Principal
Denny International Middle School

Leticia Clausen responds:

Muchisimas Gracias a Todos!!!
It feels as if I am on top of a rocket heading for the moon.
I would like to thank all the people who have given me the green light to go ahead and teach in my native language.

The most important results are not only seeing students reading and writing in spanish, but also seeing how eager they are to become bi-literate.

Thank you so much Mr. Clark for nominating me.
It feels fantastic.
I am on cloud 9.
Gracias again,

Leticia M. Clausen, M.Ed.