Announcing the 2010 Teacher of the Year

It is with great pride that the Minnesota Association of Family and Consumer Sciences announce that Marsha Chizak has been named the 2010 Minnesota Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher of the Year.

Marsha is a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher in the Fridley school district at the high school level. Her Human Development (Foundations of Child Development) program is being recognized because of the outstanding work that she does with her high school students in this year and in the past by integrating the schools IB program with her curriculum.

Fridley School district is a second tier district independent of the surrounding districts (Columbia Heights, Hilltop, Spring Lake Park). This year Fridley High School has been a fully implemented International Baccalaureate (IB) World School with the full implementation of the Middle Years Program (MYP grade 5-10) and its Diploma Program (DP grades 10-11) and working on the Primary Years Program (PYP). The unique implementation of the International Baccalaureate Program into Fridley is that all principles and practices of IB into each area of their curriculum. It is not a “pull-out” program, but is school-wide. They were one of the first schools to do this in the United States. Therefore, all of their classes are taught with the IB Learner Profile (what qualities we want IB students to exhibit) in mind, taught through the Areas Of Interaction (lenses from which to look at your curriculum through), and taught with an international-mindedness that takes their suburban students into the world to solve real-life problems with good critical thinking skills.

Marsha is also on the MAFCS board of directors and has been actively involved in the association for many years. She will represent Minnesota at the National American Association of Family Consumer Sciences Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, June 2010.

The Minnesota Association of Family and Consumer Sciences will be celebrating her award at the state conference February 12, 2010 at a 5:45 p.m. reception at the airport Hilton, Bloomington, MN.