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George Albright III, M.D.
Chief Medical Advisor
Maryland Disability Determination Services (DDS)
Division of Rehabilitation Services, MSDE
Nominated by MSDE
 The Social Security Administration (SSA) presented George Albright III, M.D., the Commissioner Citation for Excellence in Service – the highest award given by the SSA. The Maryland DDS provides an important public service to people in the State who oftentimes have very significant disabilities and resource needs while, at the same time, ensuring the fiscal integrity of the Social Security Trust Fund. Dr. Albright’s leadership over the years has made certain that the medical records that accompany these claims receive accurate and thorough review. He is well-respected by medical and lay staff on both state and national levels.
Diana Bailey
Correctional Education
Division of Career Technology and Adult Learning, MSDE
Nominated by MSDE
 Diana Bailey is the recipient of the DOWD Award for Outstanding Leadership in Offender Workforce Development. Diana has truly demonstrated leadership in creating and promoting innovative offender workforce development policy and practices in Maryland and on the national level. Her commitment to ensuring high quality services are available to offenders both inside and in the community as they endeavor to continue with positive changes as they assimilate back to their homes, families, and communities. She has advocated tirelessly for correctional education and re-entry programs with a broad range of state policy makers, legislators, and others resulting in the facilitation of creative partnerships to better address the needs of re-entry programs and the offenders and former offenders they serve.
Bonita Winchester-Bey
Early Learning Branch
Division of Early Childhood Development, MSDE
Nominated by Dr. Rolf Grafwallner, DECD
 Bonita Winchester-Bey consistently goes above and beyond her daily duties. Bonita has independently created a database for the MSDE Accreditation Project that tracks not only providers accredited through the state, but nationally as well. This database is also used by the program manager of research for different data studies. She is very passionate about ensuring that all programs that request validation visits receive them in a timely manner by working effortlessly to find validators to visit the programs. Bonita goes the extra mile even if it means staying late in the evenings or taking work home to finish. Due to her tireless work, the DECD has seen the numbers of accredited providers increase tremendously.
Robert A. Cole
Instructional Technology & School Library Media Branch
Division of Instruction, MSDE
Nominated by Jayne Moore, DOI
 Robert (Bob) Cole is the recipient of the 2009 K-12 Distance Educator of the Year Award from the Maryland Distance Learning Association. As the administrator and dedicated staff member managing the Maryland Virtual School (MVS), which served nearly one thousand Maryland public school students across the state in 2007-2008, Bob understands the value of online courses for secondary students, shares that knowledge, and works tirelessly to help such courses become a reality for students statewide. His accomplishments include establishing online learning policies and vision for the MVS, and implementing and modeling these policies for local school system replication. Bob is a presence on the national level when discussions center on state virtual schools and online learning.
Woodrow B. Grant, Jr.
Branch Chief
Equity Assurance and Compliance Branch
Nominated by Renée Yarbough-Williams, Linda Shevitz, and Maggie Green, MSDE
 Woodrow (Woody) Grant, who has served more than three decades at MSDE, is an individual who holds true to his beliefs relating to human and civil rights from leading sit-ins as a college student to serving in the Peace Corps. Woody coordinates the “Education That Is Multicultural and Achievement” (ETMA) Network and is Co-Chair of the Ad-hoc Committee on African American Males. In addition, he is also an active member of the Achievement Initiative for Maryland’s Minority Students Steering (AIMMS) Committee, which makes recommendations to MSDE in areas relating to achievement disparities between student groups. Woody has been honored by the Maryland Multicultural Coalition for outstanding contributions to multicultural education and recently received an award from the Maryland Association for Equal Employment Opportunity Personnel (MAEOP). Woody volunteers his time for the Boy Scouts of America, Citizens for Maryland Libraries Board of Directors, Harford County Public Library Board of Trustees, and Prisoner’s Aid Association of Maryland, Inc. He is a mentor in the MSDE Lunch Buddies program, which mentors elementary grade boys in Baltimore City. He believes firmly that educators have what it takes to assure the achievement of all children and supports that belief daily providing a caring and nurturing atmosphere.
Eleanor Kopchick
Nonpublic School Approval Branch
Division of Certification and Accreditation, MSDE
Nominated by Dr. John Smeallie, OS
 Eleanor Kopchick is the recipient of the 2009 Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities (MANSEF) Distinguished Citizen Award. This award is presented annually to a person or organization who has demonstrated vision, leadership for the highest quality of life for Maryland’s special needs children, and recognition that these children can best be served by a continuum of services. Eleanor was recognized for her long-standing commitment and dedication to ensuring that the children served by the MANSEF schools receive the highest quality programming and care.
Jayne Moore
Director, Instructional Technology & School Library Media
Division of Instruction
Nominated by Dr. Colleen Seremet, DOI
 Jayne Moore is the 2008 State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) Leader of the Year. SETDA honored Ms. Moore citing her work to strengthen instructional technology throughout the State. Jayne, who has served as Director of Instructional Technology and School Library Media at MSDE since 2002, has been a strong advocate for improving student learning through the use of technology. Under her leadership, Maryland has seen its student to computer ratio improve from 16:1 to 3:1.
School and Community Nutrition Programs Branch
Division of Business Services, MSDE
Nominated by MSDE
 MSDE’s School and Community Nutrition Programs Branch Finance Team (Linda Worrell; Robert Wancowicz; Adrienne White, CPA; and Linda Johnson, not featured) is the recipient of the 2008 Mid-Atlantic Regional Office (MARO) Financial Management Award “FEMMY” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This award is given in recognition of their outstanding performance in the overall reporting of financial data throughout fiscal year 2008. This is the second time that MSDE’s School and Community Nutrition Programs Branch has received this award – in 2005, the financial management team was also recognized for its exemplary work.
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