Alicea started her teaching career at Birchwood School of Hawken in 2006 as a reading teacher for grades 3-5. Her students have earned state and national recognition, including Ohio Celebration of Poets Honor School recognition and Future Problem Solving team state finalists.īio: Sarah Alicea holds a Bachelor of Science in early childhood education from The Ohio State University and graduated magna cum laude with a Master in Education from John Carroll University. She teaches reading to seventh and eighth grade students.
Awards include The History Channel Teacher of the Year and Ohio History Day Teacher of the Year. She served on the state board of Future Problem Solving and the National History Standards project. Valparaiso awarded her an honorary doctorate in 2016. Service includes workshops for the Ohio Council for the Social Studies, Midwest Archives Conference, National History Day, and Ohio Future Problem Solving. She co-authored National History Standards K-4, published in Social Studies and the Young Learner, and authored “Literature for Building Character” (now a blog). She holds a Bachelor of Science in education from Valparaiso University and a Master of Education from Cleveland State University with a focus on the education of gifted students. He and his students have earned local, state, and national recognition including being recognized as an Impact Educator by Northwestern University's Midwest Academic Talent Search in 2019, receiving the 2012-13 Math Olympiads Highest Team Award, being named Ohio’s MATHCOUNTS Coach in 2011, and being a three-time recipient of the Ohio Governor's Award for Excellence in Math and Science.īio: As director of curriculum and co-founder of Birchwood School of Hawken, Helene Debelak worked with teachers to develop a curriculum in line with the school’s mission. Debelak teaches mathematics to fifth through eighth grade students. With a Bachelor of Science in education from Valparaiso University and a Master of Education in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in gifted education from Cleveland State University, he and his wife, Helene, founded Birchwood School in 1984, together with a small group of parents, to give their own children the best education possible. Prior to the school’s founding he taught in public and private schools as well as Seoul, South Korea, and designed the gifted program for Willoughby-Eastlake schools. Bio: Charles Debelak is co-founder and head of Birchwood School of Hawken.