Ashlea Jurgens-Woitzel
Florence J. Clark Award for Excellence in Middle School Teaching
About the Award: This award recognizes two outstanding middle school teachers in the Lincoln Public Schools. Middle school teachers honored by the award demonstrate excellence in middle school teaching and work toward continuous improvement in student achievement and development.
Amount Awarded: $5,000
Nominated By: David Macek, Instructional Coordinator
Nomination: I have had the privilege of working with Mrs. Jurgens-Woitzel for many years both as a teacher, and as an administrator at Culler Middle School. In this time, I have seen Ashlea take on leadership roles both within her ELL team, and also instructionally in presenting professional developments for our staff.
When I say Ashlea took on leadership roles, I do not mean she simply volunteered and haphazardly got the job done. Ashlea took on the leadership roles and absolutely owned the work. Through her thorough communication, to her big picture thinking and planning, Ashlea's positive and professional work at Culler has not only benefited her students, but also her colleges. It is with tremendous enthusiasm that I highly recommend Ashlea for the Florence J. Clark award for excellence in teaching.
Ms. Jurgens-Woitzel does a phenomenal job of making language acquisition a meaningful and responsible activity. Her students may have never had little to no formal schooling yet she is able to connect with them and instruct them in ways that many would find to be impossible. She constantly is learning and developing new strategies and techniques to further her own teaching but also to help her students reach their potential.
Ashlea has taken on the ELL team leader role and also co-facilitator of testing. She has done both of these rolls with the upmost integrity. This year she has helped lead our school in having students set ELPA goals while also having Culler teachers put together ELPA "hype' videos where teachers shout out students and encourage them to do their best.
