MABE is pleased to announce the selection of Kathryn F. (Kitty) Blumsack, former MABE Director of Board Development, as the recipient of the 2017 MABE Excellence in Education Award.
The award was established in 2012 by the Maryland Association of Boards of Education to honor then-retiring executive director Dr. Carl W. Smith. It is presented to an individual who has demonstrated exemplary leadership and service to excellence in public education in Maryland. Nominations for this award may be submitted only by Maryland school board members, and must be supported by no less than three individuals.
Blumsack was hired by MABE in 1999 to create a comprehensive professional development program for board members. In the intervening 17 years, she came in contact with a majority of school board members across the state, either through New Board Member Orientation, the Annual Conference, or the myriad of workshops and programs she designed for individual and whole board training.
The award submission stated, “This nominee has provided board members and, very often, superintendents and their senior staff, the training, support, and mentoring they need to understand the parameters of their job, the nature of their relationships, the continual changes, and the urgency of the task at hand. High functioning boards, we’re so often told, result in high functioning schools. And high functioning boards in Maryland are generally the result of the education provided by this nominee.”
According to MABE President Joy Schaefer, “As the beneficiary of many professional development opportunities designed and often presented by Kitty, I am thrilled at the choice made by the awards committee. I cannot imagine a more worthy person to be recognized for her leadership, contribution, and service to Maryland education."
The award will be presented at the Maryland Association of Boards of Education Annual Conference in Ocean City, Maryland, in October 2017.