Henrico County Public Schools - The right to achieve. The support to succeed.

Six Henrico County Public Schools educators have won the 2024 REB Award for Teaching Excellence and will receive grants from $10,000-$15,000 to continue their love of learning and pursue cutting-edge study in their fields. A seventh HCPS teacher was a finalist. The Community Foundation awards recognize and support Richmond-area teachers who have distinguished themselves through inspiring classroom instruction. Across the region, 18 winners and 14 finalists were selected from among the 85 educators nominated by students, parents and colleagues. The HCPS winners were surprised by announcements at their schools attended by school division leaders, administrators, colleagues and students.

2024 HCPS winners, REB Award for Teaching Excellence:

• Ryan Conway, Glen Allen High School: $14,900 to travel to Japan, South Korea and Singapore to investigate teacher preparatory programs and innovative, effective strategies for teaching “Gen Alpha” students, the generation born since 2010.

• Kionna Bobbitt, Highland Springs Elementary School: $15,000 to earn a five-course certification in culturally responsive leadership from VCU, deepening knowledge of skills that promote equitable and inclusive schools; and to attend the K-12 Innovative Schools Summit.

• Elizabeth Broda, Henrico High School: $13,700 to travel to the Hawaiian Islands to shadow nonprofit organizations and learn how cultural practices rooted in Native Hawaiian principles of empowerment and belonging can build strong communities.

• Yvette Lee, J. R. Tucker High School: $15,000 to take courses in design-thinking and web-development; to visit England to explore play-based computer learning; and to travel to Tanzania to study information and communication technology training initiatives to help empower young women.

• Kendra Thomas, Hungary Creek Middle School: $10,300 to take courses in writing instruction and morphology, the structure of words; to visit schools in Vermont with established programs that support and teach students with dyslexia; and to travel in New England to research cross-curricular middle school lessons about watersheds and Native American history.

• Jason Abril, Douglas S. Freeman High School: $10,000 to expand on a senior thesis by traveling in southern France, following in the footsteps of ancient cave-painters and modern authors to explore the power of memory and the importance of personal essay-writing.

2024 HCPS finalist, REB Award for Teaching Excellence:

• Donna Letson, Twin Hickory Elementary School: $1,000

The selection process includes a nomination, an interview and submission of a project proposal. Proposals include an approximation of the amount needed to fund the candidate’s proposed project. For more information about the awards, go to https://tinyurl.com/REBAwardsPage.