The award is based on "demonstrated excellence in one or more of the five standards for Vermont educators."
Lehner provided excerpts from her nomination for the award.
"Gina is eager to learn. She has many strengths and talents, but she is unselfconscious about learning new techniques and seeking help for meeting new expectations. For example, when she first started teaching in Vermont, her experience with the VT assessment system was minimal.
She eagerly sought help and guidance from colleagues to ensure that she was helping to create consistent and thorough experiences for her students. She worked hard to understand the scoring process and to provide appropriate assessment tasks. She is now at a point where she is contributing examples of her students' work to use as training and benchmark pieces for the second through fourth grade math network meetings," the nomination points out.
"Gina has taken on leadership responsibilities in the school. She is a member of our Action Planning Team and has twice facilitated Professional Learning Groups for our faculty. She is also a member of our Technology Planning Group. She is able to maintain focus and develop a common sense of purpose without needing to be the authority or expert in the group. She joined a committee investigating adoption of the Responsive Classroom program and has presented aspects of the program to the staff. While she does not seek out opportunities for speaking in front of her peers, her performance and poise are always exceptional," it continued.
