Curry School of Education | University of Virginia

Curry School Alumni Honored by the Curry School of Education Foundation

Aug. 1, 2008 - The Curry School of Education Foundation at the University of Virginia has announced the winners of its Outstanding Alumni Awards for 2008, which are considered a recognition of lifetime achievement. The winners will receive their awards at a dinner this fall.

Neil Pedersen, winner of the Outstanding Superintendent Award, is the superintendent of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools in Chapel Hill, N.C. He received his M.A. and his Ph.D. in educational research from the Curry School. He is the longest-serving superintendent in the 100-year history of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools, having taken the position originally in 1992. He was elected as North Carolina's 2001 Superintendent of the Year, and was recognized by the local media in 2003 as one of the 50 people who made the greatest impact in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community over the last 50 years.

The Principal of the Year Award went to Brian K. Matney of Frank W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach, Va. Dr. Matney received his B.A. in American government and teaching certification from the Curry School in 1987, and later earned an M.A.T. in social sciences in 1990 and a Ph.D. in social foundations of education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been the principal at Cox High since 2002, and recently received the Principal of the Year award from the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals.

Jennifer Allen was the recipient of the Outstanding Teacher Award at the high school level - and a $500 award - for her work at Hopewell High School in Hopewell, Va. Allen received a B.S. in educational speech pathology and audiology from the Curry School in 1981, and a master's in vocal performance from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1985. She has taught music at Hopewell since 2000.

The second Outstanding Teacher Award, and another $500 grant, went to Erin Smith, a second-grade teacher at Henry Clay Elementary School in Ashland, Va. Smith earned her master of teaching elementary education, with a certification from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade, as well as a B.A. in English from the Curry School in 2004, and has been teaching at Clay Elementary since August 2004. She was recognized as the Hanover County Beginning Teacher of the Year in 2005.

Two Curry graduates received Distinguished Alumni Awards, Sandra F. Stern and Eleanor Flora Smalley. These awards recognize alumni who have attained statewide or national stature, who have provided service to the Curry School of Education, and who have contributed significantly to the profession of education.

Sandra F. Stern taught school in Halifax County for six years before becoming director of instruction for the Halifax County school system. She later founded and directed the Halifax Continuing Education Center (which is now the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center). She is currently managing director of the Citigroup Private Bank's Multiple Residence and Farm Advisory Group and a vice chair of the Curry School of Education Foundation Board of Directors. She earned her education doctorate in administration and supervision from the Curry School in 1985, as well as a master's degree from Longwood University in 1972.

From 1996 to 2007 Eleanor Flora Smalley served as superintendent of Clark County Public Schools in Virginia, a school system recognized as exemplary at the state and national levels. She served on the Curry School Foundation Board from 1991-3 and has been an adjunct professor for the Curry School since 2002. She is currently vice president of business development for the JASON Project, a National Geographic organization focused on enhancing science education for all grade levels. She received her bachelors of science degree in English education from the University of Virginia in 1978, her masters of education degree in Public School Administration from the Curry School in 1982, and her education doctorate degree in Public School Administration from the Curry School in 1995.

As the awards are considered lifetime achievement awards, recipients are not eligible to receive them more than once. Members of the Curry community and professional colleagues nominate candidates.