Howard Teacher And Principal Receive Awards

For weeks, Tracy Spillman and Cynthia Hankin, veteran educators in Howard County, were sworn to secrecy. And for weeks they kept their word.

Well, sort of.

Spillman, a resource teacher in the gifted and talented program at Lime Kiln Middle School, admitted she did tell her mother. And Hankin, principal at Deep Run Elementary School, might have let word slip to her husband.

No matter. The secret is now officially out.

Spillman, 45, has received The Washington Post's 2009 Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award for Howard County. She and the other winners will receive $3,000 and a crystal apple. They will be recognized during a reception next week at the newspaper's headquarters in Northwest Washington.

Hankin, 55, is the 2009 recipient of the newspaper's Distinguished Educational Leadership Award for the county. Each year, the awards honor principals from school systems throughout the Washington area. The winning principals were recognized at a reception last week at the newspaper.

"It really just brought tears to my eyes," Hankin said. "It is something that I will treasure for my entire life."

"Honor" and "privilege" were just two of the words that popped up often in the recommendations and other materials submitted by those who nominated Hankin. Letters from colleagues and parents praised her for her vision, her leadership and her sense of fun.

John Krownapple, coordinator of cultural proficiency for the Howard County public schools, said Hankin did not shy from addressing subjects others found uncomfortable.

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Krownapple recalled, Hankin helped ease the concerns of a Sikh parent who had recently come to the campus where Hankin was then principal. The woman was worried her son might be the target of harassment or bullying partly because of the turban he wore.

"Ms. Hankin recognized the potential for gaps in her staff members' cultural awareness, being that this child was the only Sikh child in the school," Krownapple wrote. "Thus, she dedicated a staff meeting for specific cultural awareness related to Sikhism. She did not retreat into cultural blindness -- as many do -- by consciously or subconsciously avoiding difference. She displayed -- as she does on a daily basis -- a value for diversity by engaging and adapting."

For Hankin, that response was typical. "I've never been the kind of person to just sweep things under the carpet," she said. "It was really tough for that parent and a very difficult time for a family that didn't know what kind of school they were walking into."