Crescent Real Estate Rewards Teaching Excellence in Fort Worth Schools; Technical High School Teacher’s Hands-on Approach Earns Prestigious Chair for Teaching Excellence
Fort Worth, Texas (PRWEB) January 29, 2014 -- Shannon Oden, a teacher at Fort Worth Independent School District’s Trimble Technical High School, earned the Crescent Real Estate Chair for Teaching Excellence in Career and Technology. Oden was recognized for a “hands-on” approach used to steer commercial photography students to produce dynamic and captivating products. Oden received the honorary designation of Chair for Teaching Excellence for next school year and won an honorarium intended for further training.
Crescent Real Estate Equities, LLC annually participates in the Fort Worth ISD Academic Chairs for Teaching Excellence program. The program recognizes and rewards exemplary secondary teachers. Fort Worth ISD confers upon outstanding teachers honorary titles of Chairs for Teaching Excellence for one year and corporate and community partners provide a $5,000 honorarium. Crescent donates the $5,000 honorarium for the Chair for Teaching Excellence in Career & Technology. Teachers selected as Chairs are encouraged to pursue further education and training and share knowledge and expertise with colleagues.
Oden was endorsed for the award by her teaching colleagues. “Shannon’s vision for her students is a breath of fresh air,” said Anne B. Oswalt, a colleague at Trimble Technical High School. “Oden has taken perfunctory photography classes and spearheaded them into a prominent CTE commercial photography program. The award-winning photography displayed by her students in Trimble Tech’s initial photography portfolio, Through the Lens of 178, showcases the students’ dynamic and captivating product.”
Oden is not new to winning awards for career and technical programs. The National Art Educators Association and National Association of Photoshop Professionals member won a $40,000 grant in 2011 to spearhead career and technical programs for middle school students in Northern California.
“I focus on teaching students with a hands-on approach,” Oden said. She enjoys walking around the Trimble Tech campus with her students offering suggestions on subject materials and assisting them with composition techniques. “I can guide them and open their eyes to subject material they might overlook while giving immediate feedback on their images. Providing that level of instant feedback and reinforcement helps students gain confidence.”
Fort Worth ISD established the Academic Chairs for Teaching Excellence program in 1994. Modeled after university-level Chair programs, the program is unique in its recognition of secondary school teachers. The Chairs are sponsored by corporate and community partners.
Suzanne Stevens, managing director and chief financial officer of Crescent Real Estate Equities, LLC, has participated in the program since 2007. When presenting the Crescent Real Estate Chair for Teaching Excellence award to Oden, Stevens called the award program a heartwarming highlight of her year. “Shannon Oden is not just the photography teacher. She is a friend and mentor to her students and strives to guide the students to great success,” said Stevens. “Shannon’s dedication, creativity and passion are characteristics that helped her earn the Crescent Real Estate Chair for Teaching Excellence in Career and Technology.”
Oden said she is thankful for the award and feels good that her photography class has positively impacted students and made them feel differently about attending school. She shared the comments of one of her students on learning that Oden won the award: “Even when we disappoint you, you never give up on us. You push us to try harder. Because of you I am still in school and making an effort to be a better person.”
ABOUT CRESCENT
Crescent Real Estate Holdings LLC, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a fully-integrated real estate company owned by Barclays Capital and Goff Capital. Through its subsidiaries, Crescent manages and develops premier, Class A office buildings. Crescent also holds investments in resort residential developments in locations such as Scottsdale, Vail Valley, and Lake Tahoe; a luxury hotel, The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas; and the wellness lifestyle leader, Canyon Ranch®. For more information, visit Crescent's Web site at http://www.crescent.com.
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Dennis Winkler, Crescent Real Estate Equities, LLC, +1 713 259-0195, [email protected]
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