Top Maryland teachers earned degrees from McDaniel

Update (09.09.20): Carroll County Teacher of the Year Jena Ehmann '07, M.S. '12, a reading specialist in Carroll County Public Schools, has been named a finalist for the 2020-21 Maryland Teacher of the Year.

Two Maryland top teachers are alumnae of McDaniel College.

Carroll County Teacher of the Year Jena Ehmann graduated with a Student-Designed major in English Language and Literacy Acquisition and a minor in Elementary Education in 2007 and also earned a master’s degree in Reading Specialist: Literacy Leadership in 2012 and Administrator I certification in May 2020. Kent County Teacher of the Year Angela (Angel) Jones Lins received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 1983. 

McDaniel has a tradition of producing top educators. Over the last 10 years, 29 Maryland teachers with ties to McDaniel have been named County Teachers of the Year with three of these alumnae also recognized as Maryland Teachers of the Year. Jody Zepp ’94 was the 2014-15 Maryland Teacher of the Year, while Rhonda Holmes-Blankenship M.S. ’05 was the 2012-13 Maryland Teacher of the Year and a 2013 finalist for National Teacher of the Year. The 2011 National Teacher of the Year Michelle Shearer M.S. ’96 was the 2010-11 Maryland Teacher of the Year.

In addition, Amy Andersen M.S. ’96, the 2017-18 New Jersey Teacher of the Year, was a 2018 finalist for National Teacher of the Year. Karen Mallonee ’76, M.L.A. ’79, was named the 2016 Kentucky Middle School Teacher of the Year.

Read more about our 2020-2021 Maryland Teachers of the Year:

Carroll County Teacher of the Year Jena Ehmann ’07, M.S. ‘12, a reading specialist at Winfield Elementary School, has been a veteran teacher at Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS) for more than 12 years.

“Both Carroll County Public Schools and McDaniel College have been a part of my journey in education from the beginning,” said Ehmann. “My mother was a CCPS teacher and I wanted to be just like her! I loved visiting her classroom, even before starting school and having one of my own. My family’s appreciation for education helped me become a lifelong learner. I saw school as a gift and the place where I could learn anything and everything. Growing up in Westminster, we often passed the college, and I wanted nothing more than to attend one day. My childhood dream became a reality when I was accepted to McDaniel College!”

Ehmann is also a vice president of the Carroll Reading Council and a member of the National Education Association, the Maryland State Education Association, the Carroll County Education Association, the International Literacy Association, the State of Maryland Literacy Association, and the Carroll County Literacy Chapter. She was named the Winfield Staff Member of the Month and the winner of the Winfield Elementary Leadership Award this year. She started her career with CCPS after graduating from McDaniel College in 2007 and worked at Cranberry Station, Elmer Wolfe, and Linton Springs elementary schools before moving to Winfield in 2014. 

“The lessons I learned at McDaniel College are evident in my daily instruction and my delivery of professional learning. I am grateful for the superior education I received on the Hill and proudly convey that through my responsibilities as a Carroll County Public Schools teacher,” added Ehmann.

Kent County Public Schools Teacher of the Year Angel Jones Lins ‘83, a second-grade teacher at Galena Elementary, has been teaching for nearly four decades. Lins graduated from Kent County High School in 1979 and obtained a master’s degree in Special Education from Wilmington College. 

With a passion centered on reading, Lins has taken 60 hours in various reading courses and trainings over the last 25 years. She has taught first and second grades for 19 years, 17 years as a special education teacher educating and co-teaching in Pre-K through fifth grade. Lins also spent four years, teaching a multi-sensory classroom for students who have not learned how to read in a traditional manner. Lins is known for her gift of being able to teach children who struggle to read using an eclectic array of nontraditional multi-sensory hands-on methods. She resides in Chestertown, Md., with her husband and dog, Char.