For Immediate Release
Contact:BrianPhillips
AVP,RelationshipDevelopment
Phone:267.548.7004
Email:[email protected]
InspireFCUAnnouncesFinalistsfor2017BucksCountyTeacheroftheYear
10teachersmakefinalistgroupfromover250nominations
Bristol,PA(March2017)–InspireFederalCreditUnionrecentlyannouncedthegroupoftenBucksCountyteachers
thatwilladvancetothefinalistroundintheirannualBucksCountyTeacheroftheYearcontest,sponsoredbySperry
VanNess–AhiaCommercialRealEstateandArosso’sItalianRestaurant.Thefinalistswereselectedbythepublic
throughathree-weeklongvotingperiod.Duringthevotingperiod,over40,000voteswerecastfor250nominated
teachers.
Inpastyears,onlythreefinalistswerechosenthroughthepublicvotingprocess.However,duetothelargenumber
ofnominationsandthelargeamountofvotesthisyear,theCreditUniondecidedtoextendthefinalistgrouptoten
teachers.JimMerrill,Inspire’sPresident/CEOsaid“Wereceivedanoverwhelmingresponsetothecontestthisyear.
Every teacher that was nominated deserves to be recognized for their hard work and contributions.” Merrill
continued with “Our decision to extend the finalist group to 10 teachers is a direct result of how popular and
competitivethisprestigiousawardhasbecome.Wefeltitwasinthebestinterestofthenomineestoexpandthis,
andwebelieveitwillshowcaseeachfinalist’sdedicationtotheirprofessionandpathtowardsbeingrecognizedas
the2017BucksCountyTeacheroftheYear”.
Thefinalistsarecomprisedofteachersthroughoutthecounty,atalldifferentgradelevels.Thetenteacherswho
will now be in the running to be awarded 2017 Bucks County Teacher of the Year are: Jodie Kurley at Albert
SchweitzerElementary;MichaelZweigatPineRunElementary;MichelleKrameratBensalemHigh;KarenMcGuckin
at Mill Creek Elementary; Patricia Wright at William Penn Middle; Kenneth Ehrmann at Seylar Elementary; Kelly
AlbertsatCarlSandburgMiddle;MatthewFashatLenapeMiddle;KristinaTempleatBrookwoodElementary;and
DanaDiJosephatBelmontHillsElementary.
EachofthetenfinalistswillbeintroducedtothecommunitybyInspireoverthenextfiveweeks.Finalistswillalso
completeaquestionnaireontheirteachingphilosophiesandbackground.Fromhere,acommitteewillevaluateand
judge all ten finalists’ submissions and determine the top three and eventual winner. The three finalists will be
invitedtotheCreditUnion’sannualmeetinginAprilwherethewinnerwillbeannouncedandreceive$2,500andan
additional $500 donated to their school. The two runners-up will both receive $1,000 and an additional $500
donatedtotheirschools.
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InspireFederalCreditUnionisaprogressivefinancialinstitutionthathasbeenservingthefinancialneedsofBucksCounty
residentssince1936.Wearearelationship-basednot-for-profitorganization,originallycharteredtoservelocaleducators,and
haveevolvedintoafull-servicefinancialinstitutionservingBucksCounty,Pa.Asaresultofinspiredrelationships,InspireFCU
wasvotedthe'BestofBucks'CreditUnionin2014,2015and2016bymembersofourcommunity.Visitwww.inspirefcu.orgfor
moredetails.