OCEAN TOWNSHIP — An area resident has been recognized by a national organization for her commitment to providing educational opportunities to children of less fortunate families.
Ocean Township resident Ebony Baker was one of three teachers chosen from a pool of educators from throughout 10 states to be honored with The Horizons National Student Enrichment Program’s Lyn Mc- Naught Teaching Award last month.
The Horizons program is a six-week summer school/summer camp hybrid that was designed to address the educational achievement gap between children of lowincome families and their middle class peers.
According to Horizons National, statistics have shown that this educational differential is largely attributable to accumulated learning loss during summer months and that the gap averages six months in kindergarten and nearly three years by fifth grade.
By high school, children of low-income families are six times more likely to drop out than their middle class peers are, and as adults they have a 51 percent chance of being unemployed, according to the Horizons release.
“Through a combination of academic, cultural, sports and recreational activities, Horizons’ proven model has helped to level the playing field, and studies conducted by Yale University and other independent research organizations confirm its effectiveness,” the release states.
Horizons’ programs are provided at independent school campuses and draw students with a range of academic proficiencies from the area’s public school system.
In order to receive the Horizons National award, each of the winners had to have a minimum of two years’ experience teaching in a Horizons classroom.
Award recipients also had to act as role models for their students and colleagues, teach their students creatively and encourage them to be lifelong learners, provide safe and nurturing classroom environments that recognize different learning styles and encourage the potential of each child, and create an exciting and challenging curriculum relevant to the lives of their students.
Baker, who teaches during the school year at the Oak Street Elementary School in Lakewood, has served as a Horizons instructor at the Rumson Country Day School program for six years.
Students who attend Horizons at Rumson are drawn largely from Red Bank public schools.
Organization officials hailed Baker for her service as a role model to her fellow teachers and her passion for addressing her students’ diverse learning styles.
Baker is known for her ability to tap into what she calls the “individual genius of each child” and for her energetic and handson approach to learning, Horizons National officials said.
Awards presented to the three winners included a $2,000 cash contribution to be given directly to the represented affiliate for use in the area of faculty support.
Additionally, the winners were invited to present details of their unique curricula at the organization’s spring conference. Winners are also expected to be featured in the Horizons National newsletter and on the organization’sWeb site.
The awards were presented to each of the winners by Horizons National Executive Director Lorna Smith and Horizons National program founder Lyn McNaught, after whom the award was named. NBC News anchor Brian Williams, whose wife, Jane, is the Horizons National board chair, was also on hand to congratulate the award winners.