Virginia Recognizes First Mary Peake
Educational Equity Award Winners
RICHMOND — Governor Ralph Northam, first lady Pamela Northam, Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane, Secretary of Education Atif Qarni and Virginia Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer Janice Underwood honored the first recipients of the Mary Peake Award for Excellence in Education Equity during a virtual ceremony this afternoon. The award — named after a pioneering 19th-century African American educator — honors individuals and groups making significant contributions in reducing inequities in the commonwealth’s public schools and expanding opportunities for all students.
“The Mary Peake Award for Excellence in Education Equity recognizes Virginia educators, leaders and advocates who are leading courageous conversations about equity in school divisions and communities across the commonwealth,” Lane said during the ceremony, which was livestreamed on the VDOE YouTube channel. “The educators and advocates we honor today are making a difference in the lives of thousands of students across the state as barriers to student success are removed and longstanding practices and policies that produce disparate outcomes are reexamined with an equity lens.”
The Mary Peake Award for Excellence in Education Equity was announced in March and nominations were sought in the following four categories: individual educator, school leader, stakeholder group or school division team, and policy maker.
In October and November, a selection committee comprising Virginia Department of Education staff, division-level equity directors, principals and other educators reviewed nominations from school divisions and other organizations and selected the 2020 winners, as follows:
- Individual Educator — Shantha Smith, equity and excellence coordinator, Gunston Middle School, Arlington County Public Schools. Smith advocates for equity in student outcomes and opportunities at the school level and has initiated professional development in culturally responsive pedagogy for teachers in her school. Smith earned recognition in her former role at Gunston Middle as a reading teacher and specialist for her leadership and success in improving academic outcomes for all students and narrowing achievement gaps between student groups.
- School Leader — Jeffrey Smith, superintendent, Hampton Public Schools. Smith is the 2020 Virginia Superintendent of the year and was a finalist for 2020 National Superintendent of the Year. Under his leadership, Hampton earned the 2020 Virginia Board of Education’s Innovative Practice Award for innovations that improved student outcomes and narrowed achievement, opportunity and equity gaps among student groups. These efforts included connecting every Hampton student with college and career pathways aligned with local workforce needs.
- Stakeholder Group or School Division Team — Assistant Superintendent for School and Community Empowerment Bernard Hairston and equity specialists Lars Holmstrom, Leilani Keys and Ayanna Mitchell, Albemarle County Public Schools. The equity group within the Albemarle County Office of Community Engagement leads a team of diversity resource teachers in each county school to provide monthly professional development in culturally responsive teaching. Hairston, Keys and Mitchell also developed a micro-credentialing program in culturally responsive teaching and an equity policy checklist to help focus division-level policies on promoting equitable outcomes for all students.
- Policymaker — Rodney A. Jordan, vice chairman, Norfolk School Board. While chairman of the Norfolk School Board in 2016, Jordan ushered through the division’s first equity policy to focus division practices and policies on meeting the academic and social and emotional needs of all students. The policy has served as a model for school divisions across the commonwealth. Jordan has served since 2013 as the co-chairman of the Virginia School Boards Association’s Task Force on Students and Schools in Challenging Environments. He also serves as the vice chairman and immediate past president of the Virginia School Boards Association.
“It is people like you who make Virginia a more open, welcoming and inclusive place to live, work and learn,” Northam said. “Each of you embody the spirit of Mary Peake through your leadership and dedication to ensuring that all Virginia students receive an equitable education, from preschool to higher education. You strive to ensure that Virginia’s education system works for every student, every day.”
“The progress toward greater equity we are seeing in school divisions across Virginia would not be occurring but for the passion, perseverance and commitment to equity personified by the winners of the inaugural Mary Peake awards,” Qarni said. “These exemplary individuals have labored alongside countless other educators and advocates to prove that all students benefit from policies and practices that promote equitable outcomes and opportunities.”
Mary Peake was a Norfolk native who secretly taught enslaved persons and free African Americans to read when doing so was prohibited by Virginia law. In 1861, Peake began a school near Fort Monroe for the children of formerly enslaved persons. The tree under which she taught — known as the Emancipation Oak — still stands on the campus of Hampton University.
A video of today’s virtual recognition ceremony is available on the VDOE YouTube channel. The department will announce the timeline for nominations for the 2021 Mary Peake Award for Excellence in Education Equity next spring.
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