2008 Special Award for Dedication to Education

The Lawrence Schools Foundation surprised Mary Ann Henry, South Junior High special education teacher (pictured above with her family), with a taxes-paid check for $5,000 on Thursday, December 18, 2008.
Mary Ann Henry is in her 36th year with the Lawrence Public Schools, teaching sixth grade at Kennedy Elementary School and serving as a special education teacher at Central Junior High and South Junior High. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Mundelein College in Illinois and a master’s degree at the University of Kansas. She also taught in Illinois and Wichita schools for eight years and served as a Methods and Materials Specialist for the University of Kansas for three years.
Mary Ann works with South Junior High seventh-grade students receiving special education services, but she starts each year by assisting sixth-grade teachers with facilitating their students’ transition to junior high. She greets students in sixth grade, calms their fears about going to junior high, tells them what they need to do to be successful, and assures them that each of them can and will be successful in junior high. She gives them tours of the building and meets with their parents during “open house” events to ease the transition.
She also works closely with all of the seventh-grade teachers, keeping them informed about the strengths and needs of students in their classes whom she teaches. She helps content teachers to make accommodations and modifications needed to allow her students to make academic gains in their classes. “Her enthusiasm, innovativeness and genuine concern for special education are exemplary,” said South Junior High Principal Will Fernandez. Mary Ann says some of the money will go toward a trip to Alaska. "To visit family who live in the 'boondocks,'" she said.

Special Award for Dedication to Education Recipients