Saint Cecilia teachers honored with Outstanding Educator Award

Amy Lee-Despard and Alexis Anjoomshoa-Brown, two Saint Cecilia’s Catholic School teachers, were honored during the recent Outstanding Educator Award Ceremony by Alpha Sigma Chapter Kitsap of Delta Kappa Gamma, an International Society for Key Women Educators.

Congressman Derek Kilmer handed out the awards in the large council room at Poulsbo City Hall in front of a standing-room-only crowd.

Lee-Despard, a seventh- and eighth-grade teacher now in her 10th year with Saint Cecilia, was one of the Outstanding Educator Honorees.

“She creatively designed a Civil Rights unit in response to questions her students posed,” said Saint Cecilia Principal Susan Kilbane. “By sharing stories of the unit as it unfolded in her classroom with teachers, she inspired our schoolwide adoption of Storypath for Social Studies.”

Anjoomshoa-Brown, a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher, was the Alpha Sigma Scholarship Recipient.

“Her award will support her professional development this summer at Notre Dame,” Kilbane said. “She will share her learning with all teachers in the fall at our Professional Learning Community meetings on Thursdays.”

“By sharing best practices with one another, all of our teachers continue to grow and develop,” the principal added. “The very best environment for children to learn is one in which the adults are learning. We are blessed to have such wonderful teachers.”