At the 30th Annual Exemplary Program Presentations and Awards Luncheon on Thursday, April 14, 2016, Dr. Brian Small, Executive Director of the Shippensburg University School Study Council, cited the “creative and innovative collaboration by teams of teachers, administrators and staff in developing highly effective programs that meet a wide range of student needs”. He emphasized that these programs and the teachers and staff who developed them “focused on helping students meet the highly rigorous academic, attitudinal and social requirements of in an increasingly complex and competitive global community.

Fifteen programs from the eleven county area of South Central Pennsylvania, including The Integrative Learning Centers from the Hanover Public School District, were recognized. Dr.Scola, Rebecca Conover, and Catherine Houck accepted the award on behalf of the Hanover Public School District.

The programs were selected by a committee of school administrators and University faculty and were based on the following criteria: they fill a generally recognized critical educational need; they utilized an innovative or creative approach; they were cost effective; they were easily replicable in another school setting; and they showed significant student improvement over a significant time period.

Over seventy-five teachers and administrators and University faculty attended the event and joined in the recognition of these outstanding programs. The annual event is sponsored by the Shippensburg University School Study Council, a professional development partnership between public school districts and the University, which supports school system leaders in improving the instructional experience. Dr. Herbert Steffy, Director of Field Services, and Dr. Nellie Cyr, Associate Dean of the College of Education and Human Services, presented the awards on behalf of the Study Council.