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Educational Publishers Induct Teachers to Hall of Fame
“Sesame Street” Creator Among Hall of Fame Inductees
June 12, 2004
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Stacey
Pusey
Communications Manager
NEW JERSEY--Joan Ganz Cooney, whose vision led
to the phenomenally successful children’s television program,
“Sesame Street,” and Joan Irwin, who has guided a line
of professional publications to international praise, share a fundamental
trait with Tom Snyder, who expanded his knowledge of computer programs
into an award-winning software company. That trait? All three began
as teachers.
On December 2, 2004, these three teachers will share
one more achievement: Each will be inducted into the Association
of Educational Publishers Hall of Fame. Inductees are nominated
by AEP members and chosen by the Board of Directors on the basis
of lifetime work and contributions to the field of educational publishing.
They are presented to the Hall of Fame by a close friend or family
member who outlines their unique careers.
The ninth annual AEP Hall of Fame induction ceremony
will be held at the prestigious Waldorf=Astoria Hotel in New York
City, with approximately 300 members and guests in attendance.
In 1995, Joan Ganz Cooney was presented
with this nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential
Medal of Freedom. The award underscored a lifetime of innovative
educational programs for children fostered by the woman who earned
her B.A. in teaching and found a way to teach millions of youngsters
at a time. As president of Sesame Workshop (formerly Children’s
Television Workshop), producers of the seminal educational television
program, “Sesame Street”, Cooney taught the world that
television can be a major beneficial force in children’s education.
Still in production, “Sesame Street” today
is seen by hundreds of millions of children in nearly a
hundred countries. The various programs developed by Sesame Workshop
have earned numerous Emmys.
Cooney, herself, has earned a Daytime Emmy for Lifetime Achievement
and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1990. Her induction
into the AEP Hall of Fame is the latest in a list of honors recognizing
her contributions to the wider community. These include presidential
commissions on social issues and membership on numerous boards,
such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Institute
of Social Sciences, the International Radio and TV Society and the
National Organization of Women.
During the 13 years that Joan Irwin
was Director of Publications for the International Reading Association,
she presided over a tremendous growth of the company’s journals,
books, newspapers, electronic, and online services. Today, the IRA’s
publications provide news, research and support for 80,000 members
worldwide in the teaching profession. Irwin, a teacher of reading
and literature at all school levels, stamped her tenure as Director
of Publications with an insider’s knowledge of the outside
help that would most benefit a teacher. Under her tutelage, IRA
has garnered several awards for quality.
Irwin recently brought her knowledge to the Association
of Educational Publishers where she has just completed a three-year
term on the Board of Directors. In that time, she worked to promote
the Global Learning Initiative, a far-reaching project AEP sponsors
in association with the renowned Bologna Children’s Book Fair.
She is also a member of the Advisory Board for Hampshire Educational
Collaborative, which designs online courses for teachers.
She is currently the Vice President for Professional
Development for Peoples Publishing Group where she is developing
a new series of resources for K-8 professional development in reading
instruction. The venture will no doubt go well. As one of her IRA
colleague’s observed, “Joan has left a legacy of success
wherever she has served.”
The Wow! Factor apparently struck Tom Snyder
nearly 25 years ago when he first used a classroom computer to help
him teach his elementary and middle school students. Recognizing
the teaching potential of the nascent technology in the classroom,
he began designing computer programs to enhance the learning experience.
By 1980 he had founded Tom Snyder Productions and was deeply involved
in using his teaching skills to develop educational software products
and services to inspire students and teachers alike. His award-winning
software includes “Geography Search,” “Fizz &
Martina’s Math Adventures” and “Decisions, Decisions,”
which earned many awards including a Codie Award for Excellence
in Technology.
Snyder branched into television products, co-creating
and producing the TV cartoon hit “Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist”
and “Squigglevision,” a TV show based on his popular CD-ROM
series “Science Court” which taught science, math and
language concepts using humor and interactive experiments. Both
“Dr. Katz” and “Squigglevision” earned top television
awards for Tom Snyder Productions. In addition, Snyder took home
a Children’s Special Emmy in 1998 for the animation of the
HBO children’s special, “The Tale of the Watch”.
In 2001, Tom Snyder Productions was acquired by Scholastic,
the global children’s publishing and media company. Today,
Tom Snyder Productions is a leading developer and publisher of interactive
educational software for K-12 classrooms, producing such well-known
products as Timeliner 5.0 and Thinking Reader™. The company
carries more than 125 award-winning educational software titles,
covering each curriculum area, to help teachers integrate technology
into their classrooms. Snyder continues to employ his creativity
as a consultant to his former company, and by writing a musical
and pursuing his passion as an amateur rock musician and composer.
About AEP
AEP, a national, nonprofit organization, represents, supports and
promotes the publishers of supplemental educational resources, key
tools for reading and learning at school and at home. Its membership
includes the giants of the supplemental education industry, and
spans the gamut from magazines to television channels, books to
interactive computer software and CDs. Please visit www.AEPweb.org
for more information.
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