Goucher Alumna Named Baltimore City’s Teacher of the Year

Release date: May 07, 2008 |

Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum / May 6, 2008

Kristin Covaleskie, ’96 a fourth-grade teacher at Northwood Elementary School, has been named Baltimore City’s Teacher of the Year for 2008.

Covaleskie, 32, is a 12-year veteran of the city schools who began student-teaching while attending Goucher College, where she is now pursuing her master of education degree. She has taught kindergarten through fourth grade and has been an after-school academy teacher, a mentor teacher for student interns from Morgan State University, school improvement team chairperson, and resident advisor for the Baltimore City Teaching Residency program.

At Northwood, Covaleskie teaches the most academically advanced class of fourth-graders.

A selection committee composed of school system and teachers union representatives and two former winners chose Covaleskie from seven applicants. A teacher can be nominated for the award by an administrator, colleague, or community member, but an application must be submitted with three letters of recommendation. Candidates must have at least five years of teaching experience and must plan to continue teaching next school year.

Covaleskie and the other local teachers of the year will be honored by the Maryland State Board of Education. Each district’s Teacher of the Year will compete in the statewide competition, and the statewide winner will go on to the nationals. The Maryland Teacher of the Year will represent the state’s teachers on numerous state committees and advisory boards and will speak throughout the year at various conferences and conventions.

School districts nationwide are honoring their best teachers this week, Teacher Appreciation Week. The event is sponsored jointly by the National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association.