Professional Opportunities
NBEA Award Winners
Recognizing Excellence in Business Education
Each year NBEA accepts nominations for outstanding individuals for the following award categories:
Secondary Teacher of the Year [nomination form]
This award recognizes outstanding contributions to business education by a secondary business educator.
Postsecondary Teacher of the Year [nomination form]
This award recognizes outstanding contributions to business education by a postsecondary business educator.
Collegiate or University Teacher of the Year [nomination form]
This award recognizes outstanding contributions to business education by a senior college or university business educator.
Distinguished Service Award for an Administrator or Supervisor [nomination form]
This award recognizes outstanding contributions to business education by an administrator or supervisor of business education.
Distinguished Service Award [nomination form]
This award recognizes outstanding contributions to business education by an institution, organization, business firm, government agency, or individual associated with any of these groups.
Middle School Teacher of the Year [nomination form]
This award recognizes outstanding contributions to business education by a middle school business educator.
The 2011 NBEA Award winners are:
Jennifer Gipp
Middle School Teacher of the Year
Jennifer Gipp, business and information technology teacher at DC Everest Middle School in Weston, Wisconsin, is NBEA's 2011 Middle Teacher of the Year. Gipp was honored for her superior knowledge of the business curriculum and her uncanny ability to know “what’s next” in technology. A highly regarded instructional leader, she has consistently emphasized 21st century skills, spearheading a district-wide initiative to introduce keyboarding skills to second- through fourth-grade students and computer skills to sixth graders, including courses for English language learners and students with special needs. She is active in professional organizations such as NBEA, NCBEA, and NEA and has served as FBLA advisor at local, state, and regional levels.
As the school and district Technology Mentor, Gipp makes herself
accessible to colleagues for formal training and “just-in-time” help.
In the words of one of her supporters, “She is the ‘go-to’ person for
technology issues, not only because of her vast knowledge, but also
because of the warm and friendly way she relates to everyone. I have
yet to stump her with a technology question.” She conducts community
workshops on internet safety and is helping create a presentation to
celebrate Hmong History Month in her school.
Gipp also writes the “Spotlight” series of computer application
textbooks for Cengage Learning.
“Something exciting is always happening in her room,” said the media specialist, who frequently observes our award winner in action. “You know it’s Friday when the lights are dimmed, a spotlight is shining on the mirrored disco ball on the ceiling, and she is motivating her students with activities and practices that make learning fun.”
Janet Flusche
Secondary Teacher of the Year
Janet Flusche, business educator at Frenship High School in Frenship, Texas, receive NBEA's 2011 Secondary Teacher of the Year Award for doing what the best teachers always strive to do: make a difference.
Flusche has mentored beginning business teachers and student teachers and secured grants that provided the hardware and software her students needed to develop their business and technology skills. Her technology workshops inspired one participant to write, “This is probably the most useful information I have ever received at a conference.”
As a result of her efforts, teachers in her school became MCAS-certified, and her school reports a 99% passing rate on all student Office Certifications tests since 2004. But Flusche makes a difference—a “huge difference,” one parent said—in students’ lives as well. The parent had two sons. The older son, a high achiever, chose to major in management information systems because of what he learned in Flusche’s computer classes. The younger son was an average student handicapped by ADH: “He constantly felt he could not measure up …but Janet Flusche made him feel like he was capable of doing anything. She taught him the curriculum, but she gave him so much more. As a teacher myself, I know there are always children who cross our path who will be easy to teach and those who will present challenges. The mark of a gifted teacher is [being able] to take the difficult child and help him be a success.”
Flusche also receives letters of appreciation from students
themselves. One particularly moving letter thanked Flusche for
“actually being a teacher”: Every day you have challenged me to learn something. This class has
been one of the only reasons that I get out of bed so early in the morning
and come to school (I almost dropped out in sophomore year) and I truly
enjoy being here…” …making it easy to see why one supporter remarked that Flusche’s career was not just a job but a spiritual calling.
Kay Fujimoto Ono
Postsecondary Teacher of the Year
The NBEA 2011Postsecondary Teacher of the Year is Kay Fujimoto Ono, associate professor of business technology at Leeward Community College in Pearl City, Hawaii, was named Postsecondary Business Teacher of the Year.
Honored for her outstanding leadership
ability, Ono was one of the original California
Mentor Teachers and, to her knowledge, the
only representative from business education.
Whenever new technology emerged, she found
ways to incorporate it into her courses. Due to her outstanding grasp of curriculum, Ono was involved
in several projects that involved restructuring the business technology
curriculum and improving methods of delivery into the community.
For example, she helped develop a specialized program to service
the healthcare market, creating a nontraditional delivery system for
front-line healthcare workers. This program, which received national
attention, awarded college credit for structured workplace learning
experiences. One supporter wrote,
“She is able to provide insights that overcame many challenges that
arise when developing industry- and community-driven programs.”
Her achievements and expertise garnered her an invitation to visit
Hong Kong and set up a distance education program with community
colleges—thus creating a good name for her institution in the
international education marketplace.
Overall, Ono’s contributions to program development increased enrollment in the business education program at Leeward and improved the program’s health indicators. In the words of a supporter, she moved the program “from decline and stagnation to engagement and enrollment growth.”
Sandy Braathen
Collegiate Teacher of the Year
Sandy Braathen, NBEA’s 2011 recipient of the Collegiate Teacher of the Year Award, a professor at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.
Her students consistently rate her teaching
as excellent and love her expertise
as well as her sense of humor. “She knew what
she was doing and it was easy to learn from her,”
one student wrote. “Her classes were “always
interactive, informative, and entertaining,”
said another. “Often she would try out strategies
and teaching methods on our class so that we could actively see the
differences between methods. Everything that happened in that class
had a purpose and lots of thought behind it.” Braathen was so effective,
in fact, that one of her students earned a “Rookie Teacher of the Year”
award. Her colleagues admire the variety of service and scholarship
she provides. For example, Braathen has held numerous offices in
professional organizations and served as team evaluator for her
state’s department of career and technical education. She helped set
policy for a bachelor degree program in technical education and twice won her university’s Meritorious Teaching Award.
A frequent speaker at conferences and contributor to professional
journals, Braathen has served since 1998 as principal investigator for
more than $280,000 in grant funds.
The community also benefits from Braathen’s dedication to teaching
correspondence and online courses, community continuing education
workshops, and the summer “Buzz on Biz Youth Entrepreneurship
Camp"—where she provided hands-on
teaching experiences for her university students while also providing
entrepreneurship education for middle-school students.
Braathen is unequaled as a colleague, her supporters say, noting
that “her sense of integrity as a professional makes her a pleasure to
work with and a foundational touchstone in our department.”
Gary B. Hutchinson
Distinguished Service Award for a Supervisor
The recipient of NBEA’s 2011 Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Contributions to Business Education by a Supervisor of Business Education is Gary B. Hutchinson, department chair
at Hinsdale South High School, Darien,
Illinois. He was honored for his exemplary
career as an instructional leader and strong
proponent of best practices.
As department chair, Hutchinson promoted changes in curriculum and instructional methods that enhanced teacher effectiveness and student success, such as offering business education classes to English language learners, to students who are deaf or hard of hearing, and to students in special education classes. He also introduced honors and AP courses to the business department and moved accounting and business law classes into computer labs. In line with current thinking in organizational psychology, Hutchinson encourages teachers to teach courses in which they are both qualified and competent, i.e., to lead with their strengths. Students likewise are encouraged to discover and develop their strengths by participating in leadership academies, a peer jury program, accounting and consumer competitions, an online youth summit, and in virtual management classes and internship programs, thus learning firsthand the ins and outs of their potential professions. Many of the teachers Hutchinson supervised have become successful teachers, counselors, and administrators—and the students, successful business professionals.
An ardent advocate for business education, Hutchinson has participated
and held office in numerous professional education associations.
Every day, one supporter wrote,
Hutchinson exemplifies spirit and passion for his profession. Indeed, the
bumper sticker on his car says it all: I love business education.
Eve Lewis
Distinguished Service Award
The recipient of NBEA’s 2011 Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Contributions to Business Education by an Individual is Eve Lewis, Executive Editor at South-Western Cengage Learning,
Mason, Ohio.
Lewis has long been a friend to business education. She began her career as a business educator, then entered the publishing industry and specialized in business education titles, developing more than 100 publishing programs in her 30-year tenure. Known for putting pedagogy and instruction at the forefront of product development, Lewis identified key educators to create the high-quality materials business educators needed to implement an up-to-date, forward-looking curriculum.
Anyone else would have stopped there and called it a day.
However, Lewis did more: she delivered presentations about trends
in the profession, served on task forces, identified reviewers to help
update the National Standards for Business Education, and supported
student business organizations. Her mentoring
of 75 students in her local high school’s DECA
program helped the school achieve state and
national recognition.
Lewis regularly networks with local legislators, contributes to professional
and community organizations, and is a respected consultant
to businesses and educational institutions. When serving on a search
committee for principal at the local high school, she consistently asked
candidates how they valued the contributions of business and marketing
education. She has raised awareness of the business education
profession and the benefits of community–business partnerships by
securing job shadowing, co-op, and internship opportunities.