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Good Morning,
A few days ago I was asked to speak a few words about our next award.
The Janet Dunn Excellence in Education award honors a woman who was a
wonderful instructor, a wonderful person, and to many of us, a dear
friend. I was honored, last year, to receive this award, and I am
glad today to talk about what it means to me and present it to this
years recipient.
You see, as time moves on, the number of us that can see a face or
hear a laugh when we hear Janet's name becomes smaller. There is a
fear that, even within our small group, someday the Janet Dunn award
may take on the same hollow ring as the name associated with an
airport terminal, a public park, or an elementary school.
And so this morning I wanted to take for a minute and tell you about Janet.
She joined the education group, just shortly after me, now over three
years ago. We had worked together at our last company, and my
enthusiastic stories about our group lead her to seek and receive
this job. In her nearly two years with us, she excelled in everything
she did, based on her background and skills, but mostly on her
enthusiasm and caring. Janet, it is easy to recall, earned the love
and respect of our team based on her single minded care and concern
for the students.
She joined the Manufacturing Applications Instructors back when we
could all sit at one table, long before regionalization, long before
NCA and NT, before AEC's and AEM's.
Not all of you may be aware of the tragedy of her automobile
accident, and the sadness it brought to her family, her co-workers,
her friends. While we sent flowers and notes, prayers and
well-wishes, we had desired a more fitting tribute. Thus was born the
Janet Dunn excellence in education award.
It is not given to best instructor (necessarily). It is not about
evaluations or labs or SPOCing or mentoring (as those all have their
own awards). It is simply about the thing we remember most about
Janet, about selflessly caring for her students. About her
willingness to address herself, her skills, her heart to her
students. And it is therefore in Janet's honor that we present this
award today.
This years recipient is . . . |
