Partners In Excellence 2021 Media Advisory

Boston—February 26, 2021. Mass Insight Education & Research (Mi) will be honoring Advanced Placement (AP) STEM & English teachers from across the Commonwealth who have made a significant impact on AP student success. The 2021 Partners in Excellence (PIE) teaching award presentations will take place virtually from 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm on March 4, 11, and 18.

On March 25, Mi will present several special recognition awards to outstanding advocates of AP education and feature an inspiring keynote interview with Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, Executive Director of Finance Thought Leadership at Oracle.

The award presentations and closing ceremony will be broadcasted on YouTube.

Leadership sponsors for this year’s Partners in Excellence are State Street Corporation and K&L Gates.

The first three PIE nights feature conversations with this year’s award-winning teachers in each of our AP disciplines – Math, Science, and English.

Math awards include Calculus, Statistics, and Computer Science AP courses and will be presented on March 4 to:

• Linda Grimshaw, Leicester High School
• Emily Siegfriedt, Haverhill High School
• Jose Borges, John D. O’Bryant School
• Dan Orszulak, Ware High School
• Segismund Shelby Sharpe, Springfield Central High School

Science awards include Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Environmental Science AP course and will be presented on March 11 to:

• Colleen Gleavy, Middleborough High School
• Jennie Portney, Joseph P. Keefe Tech
• Athena Kaouris Vangos, Leicester High School
• Grace Noble, Chelsea High School
• James Louis, TechBoston Academy
• James Gorman, Nipmuc Regional High School

English awards include Literature and Language AP courses and will be presented on March 18 to:

• Kalimah Rahim, New Mission High School
• Marisa Cote, Millbury High School
• Gail Holland, Worcester Tech
• Jen Blackburn, Granby High School
• John Wilson, Wareham High School

The closing ceremony will be presented on March 25 and will feature:

• Keynote Interview with Kimberly Ellison-Taylor of Oracle
• Presentation of the Lawrie A. Bertram Award to Maureen Melanson, Methuen High School
• Presentation of the Chairman’s Award to the Honorable Adrian C. Madaro
• Presentation of the Michael G. Contompasis Leadership Award
• Presentation of the Program Innovation Award to sponsors and teachers in the Science from Home program. The honorees are:
  • Derian Capodagli, Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers
  • Brad Lepak, East Boston High School
  • Ivyrose Likis, Excel High School
  • Angela Lou, John D. O’Bryant School of Math and Science
  • Gabriel Mathews, Brighton High School
  • Matt McCarthy, Madison Park Technical Vocational High School
  • Barbara Simon, New Mission High School
  • Amanda Spence, Charlestown High School
  • The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
  • PTC Foundation

For more information about PIE go to https://massinsight.org/advanced-placement/partners-in-excellence/. For more information about Mass Insight, go to www.massinsight.org.