Education graduates recognized as Teachers of Promise

The Maryland State Department of Education recognized eight Education graduates from McDaniel College as Teachers of Promise.

Seven McDaniel bachelor’s degree recipients who majored in Elementary Education or minored in PreK-12 or Secondary Education and one graduate from the accelerated bachelor’s to master’s five-year Secondary Education/M.S. in Teaching were recognized as Teachers of Promise by the Maryland State Department of Education.

McDaniel’s Teachers of Promise awardees were:

• John Geniti III of Scotia, New York, who graduated magna cum laude with a major in Elementary Education;
• Nicole Guercio of Mount Airy, Maryland, who graduated magna cum laude with a major in Elementary Education. Guercio has accepted a position with Howard County Public Schools;
• Ellie Henderson of Glenelg, Maryland, who graduated cum laude with a major in Elementary Education. Henderson has accepted a position with Baltimore County Public Schools teaching fourth grade at Pine Grove Elementary School;
• Kayla Shriver of Mount Airy, Maryland, who graduated magna cum laude with a major in Elementary Education. Shriver has accepted a position with Howard County Public Schools;
• Carsyn Meckley of Hanover, Pennsylvania, who graduated summa cum laude with Honors in Education and a major in Elementary Education. She also earned The Joan Develin Coley Award for Excellence in Education. Meckley will be teaching third grade at West Manheim Elementary School in the South Western School District in Hanover, Pennsylvania;
• Bryce Mitchell of Glen Burnie, Maryland, who graduated cum laude with a major in Kinesiology and a minor in PreK-12;
• Brooke Windsor of Woolford, Maryland, who graduated summa cum laude with Honors in English and a minor in Secondary Education. Windsor also earned The Michael and Polly Beaver Award for Excellence in Education and has accepted a position as a sixth grade English language arts teacher with Carroll County Public Schools at East Middle School;
• Savanna Kerbe of Glen Burnie, Maryland, who completed the accelerated bachelor’s to master’s five-year Secondary Education/M.S. in Teaching and earned a master’s degree in Teaching Secondary. Kerbe will be teaching eighth grade English language arts at Easton Middle School in Talbot County.

According to Robin Townsend '75, M.S. '98, coordinator of McDaniel's Teacher Professional Development, these students are considered the “best and brightest” and are nominated to participate based on GPA, service, leadership, and their performance during their student teaching semester. As Teachers of Promise, the students are matched with award-winning educators in Maryland, including Maryland’s Teachers of the Year and Milken Educators, who mentor and guide them through their transition from college to the classroom.

They also participated in a one-day Teachers of Promise Institute, underwritten by the Maryland Independent College and University Association (MICUA), Education Systems, First Financial Federal Credit Union, and sponsors of the Teacher of the Year Program, which was held April 19. The 2024 Maryland Teacher of the Year Mary Kay Connerton, who earned McDaniel’s Administrator 1 Certificate in May 2019, was a featured speaker at the event.

In addition, 2023 alums Kate Cramer and Jada Stump served on the New Teachers Panel. Both Cramer and Stump were named 2023 Teachers of Promise. Cramer now teaches in Carroll County Public Schools at Liberty High School in Eldersburg, Maryland, and Stump is a fourth-grade teacher in Harford County Public Schools at Meadowvale Elementary School in Havre de Grace, Maryland.