Group recognizes Lundy with administrator award

“Quality educators are lifelong learners.”

That sentence is at the heart of Medford Area Public School District curriculum director Laura Lundy’s philosophy when it comes to encouraging staff to continue to learn and take part in programs, conferences and training sessions.

Earlier this winter Lundy was recognized by the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers (WSST) with their Administrator Award.

The WSST Administrator Award was designed to acknowledge the superior K-12 principals, vice principals, curriculum directors and district superintendents who “promote, showcase and support science education. Nominators should choose a candidate that understands the unique nature of science education, and goes above and beyond the call of duty to offer teachers of science the creativity, time, and resources to develop a dynamic science classroom.”

Lundy was nominated for the award by high school science teacher Tracy Swedlund who in his nomination stated that Lundy has “worked with our district’s science PLC teams at the elementary, middle and high school level to create an environment where student engagement and student learning is the focus. Laura provides the framework where K-12 district science teachers engage in setting goals, actively participate in deep discussion and analyze student performance data.

“Over the years Laura has encouraged the K-12 district science staff to learn new technologies and make an effort to keep abreast of skills and tools in the area of the sciences field necessary to engage students both inside and outside the classroom,” Swedlund wrote.

“Through the PLC model, Mrs. Lundy has encouraged us to continually re-evaluate our goals for student learning, student engagement, and instructional planning. She is very supportive of our efforts to work as a Science steam and has used funding to get us substitutes during the school day as well as paid work time in the summer,” stated Medford Area Middle School science teacher Jennifer Shipman in a letter supporting Lundy’s nomination for the award.

“Lundy is clearly a ‘teacher leader’ administrator that understands the strains and constraints on our teachers and works to find ways to support and push our staff,” wrote elementary principal Dan Miller in support of Lundy’s nomination.

After being nominated for the award, Lundy had to submit letters of recommendation, a resume and write an essay answering questions about why she was a good candidate for the award.

“My guiding word as an administrator has always been ‘balance.’ Medford teachers work to find a balance between teaching science skills and science content. . . . We also strive to find balance between traditional effective teaching methods, while researching and implementing the latest trends in science and technology,” Lundy stated.

To Lundy, quality teachers are those who never stop learning and she carries this through in the curriculum development in the district and in professional staff development. She noted that she encourages and sometimes requires teachers to attend professional development opportunities. She notes that when the state eliminated ongoing professional development and credit requirements for licensure the Medford school district stepped up and added a requirement to its staff that they participate in at least eight hours of professional development each year.

“I believe that these opportunities and requirements are important, because learning new things help keep our science teachers on top of their game and excited about their profession,” Lundy said.