Every day, teachers are asked to engage our children in science, math and language arts to cultivate their intellectual readiness to become future presidents, small-town doctors and global business leaders. Previous generations of educators have answered the call by way of traditional instruction. However, today’s teachers must be able to demonstrate the real-life practicality and relevance of core curriculum subjects to a generation of new-media and electronic-gadget enthusiasts.

While reading from textbooks, working math problems on the chalkboard and listening to lectures still resonates with most students, innovative ideas that tap into technology and provide further hands-on learning are proving to be much more effective.

All across America, teachers are coming up with ingenious ways to engage students, contend for their attention and prepare them for higher learning and to assume future leadership roles.
With enough funding, teachers committed to meeting today’s challenge of engaging and educating Internet-savvy, “connected” students can turn their ideas into reality. ING, a global financial services company, has taken notice of the innovative ideas of these “unsung heroes” for more than a decade and is committed to recognizing and rewarding educators for their ingenuity.  

One of them, Florianne L. Woods, a French instructor at Derby High School, recently was recognized as one of the nation’s most innovative educators in the 2008 ING Unsung Heroes® awards program. Woods was one of 100 winners who received a $2,000 award to help fund her innovative idea and bring it to life in the classroom.  She will now compete with other winners for one of the top three prizes — an additional $5,000, $10,000 or $25,000.

The ING Unsung Heroes awards program recognizes Kindergarten through 12th grade educators nationwide for their innovative teaching methods, creative educational projects and ability to positively influence the children they teach.  Since honoring its first “unsung hero” in 1996, ING has awarded more than $3 million to nearly 1,300 educators across the United States. The 2008 ING Unsung Heroes winners were selected from a group of more than 1,400 applications.

Woods’ “Cadet Teaching” program dispatches a 15-member Cadet Corp of third and fourth-year high school French students to as many as nine elementary schools to teach elementary conversational French to elementary school students in their district. This research-based process provides real-life practice to advanced language high school students to utilize their knowledge of foreign language. Cadet students create and organize flash cards, posters, games, songs, nursery rhymes and other elementary realia to aid in their teaching process. Students also plan lessons and schedule class time as part of their own language learning process. The “Cadet Teaching” project is not merely a “program” with an ending, but it is an intense teaching process with academic excellence in foreign language as its goal. For the elementary student, the Cadet Program is both exciting and motivational. For the high school participant, the program helps them strive for accuracy in their French communication skills. Woods is a resident of Mulvane.

"ING is proud to recognize teachers across America who are dedicated to motivating and inspiring school children to excel,” Dan Hanlon, senior vice president, Public Market Sales, ING U.S. Wealth Management, said. “Our company is committed to education, and funding programs that are making it easier for our youth to learn is an investment with a huge return — preparing our youth for success in the future.”

To learn about this year’s winning projects, as well as those from previous years, visit the ING Unsung Heroes web site at www.ing.com/us/unsungheroes. Applications for the 2009 ING Unsung Heroes awards are available on the web site, or by calling (800) 537-4180 or emailing ing@scholarshipamerica.org.