SCHOOLS

About 5,000 high school seniors nationwide have been nominated as U.S. Presidential Scholars candidates. Students are invited to apply based on their SAT or ACT scores, or based on nomination by a chief state school officer.

Each April, the Commission of Presidential Scholars reviews the applications and selects up to 161 U.S. Presidential Scholars, one of the nation’s highest honors for a high school student.

The new scholars are recognized during a ceremony in June in Washington, D.C.

OTM Area Candidates

Alabama School of Fine Arts: James H. Shi. The Altamont School: Jeffrey Youngson. Briarwood Christian High School: David N. Houston and David F. Lether. Homewood High School:

James H. Shi Jeffrey Youngson Natalie C. Crawford Saniya Virani Sarah R. Xin Martha Bowron Ivy Cobbs Eleanor M. Elkus

Amy E. Hudson Georgia K. Scott Addison E. Wint Michael J. Wolkow Ranee Brady Yongyu Qiang Christina K. Sorochinsky Ethan O. Wylie

Natalie C. Crawford. Hoover High School: Shayaan S. Essani, Saniya Virani, Sarah R. Xin and Jeffrey Yuan. Indian Springs School: Caroline L. Beisher, William R. Falconer, Andrew C. Glassford, Hao W. Jiang, Joseph B. Katz, Catherine Kung, Emma S. Peng and Andrew C. Schwebel. Mountain Brook High School: Martha Bowron, Ivy Cobbs, Eleanor M. Elkus, Amy E. Hudson, Georgia K. Scott and Addison E. Wint. Oak Mountain High School: Logan J. Camp, George H. Graham IV and Cade M. May. Spain Park High School: Michael J. Wolkow. Vestavia Hills High School: Ranee Brady, Yongyu Qiang, Christina K. Sorochinsky and Ethan O. Wylie.

Homewood City Schools Announces Teacher of the Year Awards

By Ally Morrison

Homewood City Schools recently announced its Teacher of the Year award recipients.

Elementary Teacher of the Year was granted to Genie Christian, a physical education teacher at Shades Cahaba Elementary School.

Secondary Teacher of the Year was awarded to Claudia Sale-Casalino, of Homewood High School. SaleCasalino teaches in the world languages area and focuses primarily in the Spanish and English learner subjects.

According to the director of communications at Homewood City Schools, Merrick Wilson, a sevenmember level selection committee met to review applications to select award recipients.

Genie Christian

Christian has taught physical education at Shades Cahaba Elementary School for 13 years. She has been recognized by the school system as a Teacher Impact Award recipient for her commitment to her students and community.

According to Wilson, Christian takes pride in her classroom being a space of comfort, respect, acceptance and fun.

Through physical education and activity, Christian has helped students with physical, emotional, behavioral and learning disabilities or impairments to be successful.

In addition to her main job, Christian has helped start and assist with many extracurricular activities for students and staff to promote healthy relationships between their minds and bodies.

She currently is a cross-country and track and field coach at Homewood Middle School.

Christian is dedicated to experimenting with new methods and resources to keep students engaged and active. Under her leadership, her school was awarded the Be Healthy Schools Blue Cross and Blue Shield Grant in 2015.

“Coach Christian is the type of teacher every parent wants their child to experience,” Shades Cahaba Principal Wendy Story said. “We are fortunate that all of our students have this opportunity to learn and be supported by such an amazing educator. Coach Christian speaks about our students as if they were her own and takes an active interest in their learning within and outside the walls of the gymnasium.”

Genie Christian

Claudia Sale-Casalino

Sale-Casalino began her teaching career in 2007 at Homewood Middle School, and in 2016 she became a Spanish and EL teacher at Homewood High School.

During her time at the middle school, Sale-Casalino completed her master’s degree in English as a second language at UAB.

At the age of 23 without knowing English, Sale-Casalino emigrated to the United States from Argentina in search of opportunity, and she refused to allow the barrier of language to hold her back.

She currently works with English language learners, individualizing instructions to meet the linguistic, academic and cultural needs of her students. She is known for her creativity and knowledge, which she uses alongside her personal experiences to make learning meaningful to her students.

Wilson stated that no matter the subject, Sale-Casalino teaches, her philosophy has been to be a role model to her students and to make students feel welcome.

Sale-Casalino serves many leadership roles at Homewood High, including sponsor of the Arabic Club, Heritage Panel and Library Advisory Committee.

“As a teacher of English language learners, she relates to students across a spectrum of cultural backgrounds,” HHS Assistant Principal Latta Johnston said. “She does this by getting to know students and their parents. She excels at making connections with families and is active in the community, where she fosters relationships outside of school. These relationships help her connect with and motivate her students.”

Claudia SaleCasalino

Other Winners

Teacher of the Year awards at the campus level were: Elementary: Edgewood Elementary – Michelle Graves; Hall-Kent Elementary – Brooklyn Scoggins Middle: Homewood Middle – Mary Paris

Vestavia Hills Elementary East Named State School of Character

Vestavia Hills Elementary East is being recognized statewide for its emphasis on character education and development, according to a press release from Vestavia Hills City Schools.

Character.org, a national organization whose goal is to advocate for character education in schools, on Jan. 26 named Vestavia Hills Elementary East a 2022 Alabama State School of Character. VHEE was one of only five schools in Alabama chosen for the award this year.

Each of the State Schools of Character were selected based on demonstrated excellence in 11 key principles of character education and development.

For VHEE, those principles were found in programs such as the Friendship Initiative, which seeks to identify students in need of additional peer and adult connections and create opportunities for friendships to form. In 2021, the Friendship Initiative earned the school a Promising Practice award from Character.org.

“We’re honored to receive this recognition. We are able to achieve great school,” VHEE Principal Mark Richardson (pictured) said. VHEE is the third Vestavia Hills school in as many years to receive the State School of Character Award, joining Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights and Vestavia Hills Elementary West. Both subsequently received National School of Character honors. VHEE previously earned State and National School of Character awards in 2013.

The 2022 National Schools of Character will be announced in May.

Journal photo by Jordan Wald