WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., May 28, 2008 -- Each year Williams College awards its national George Olmsted Jr., Class of 1924, Prize for Excellence in Secondary School Teaching to four high school teachers who have made a difference to graduating Williams seniors.

This year's recipients are Duff S. Allen III, teacher of English at Kingston (N.Y.) High School; Chung Chan, teacher of social studies at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Stephen Mounkhall, teacher of English at Scarsdale (N.Y.) High School; and Michelle Santarelli, teacher of biology at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The Olmsted Prizes received national attention in 2005 when Thomas L. Friedman, op-ed columnist for The New York Times, highlighted the program and the prize recipients in his column. "The best way to ensure that we have teachers who inspire their students is if we recognize and reward those who clearly have done so," he wrote.

Each Olmsted recipient receives $3,000. An additional $2,500 goes to his or her school. Winners are honored during the Williams Commencement. The Olmsted Prize, established in 1984, is funded by an endowment from the estates of George Olmsted Jr. and his wife, Frances, who wanted to recognize excellence in secondary school teaching. Olmsted, a lifelong proponent of exemplary teaching, was the president and chairman of the board of the S. D. Warren Paper Co.

Duff S. Allen III, Kingston (N.Y.) High School

"Duff Allen not only inspired me to love literature, but to approach life and learning with unmeasured passion," wrote senior Jennifer Sit in her nomination. She went on to describe Allen as an "unorthodox, creative, passionate" English teacher who brought literary experiences roaring to life. Sit remembers that when her class read John Gardner's "Grendel," Allen immersed the students in one particular fight scene by hurling apples across the classroom. The point was well taken, Sit said. "I will remember the energy of Gardner's writing and that literature is not only about reading, but about feeling and experiencing a written moment that comes to life."

Allen is dedicated, both to his students and to the public school system. When Sit bumped into him in a department store two years later, he sat down with her, on microwave boxes, for a two-hour conversation. He wanted to read the essays she wrote for her Williams classes, and she still valued his comments and criticisms. "Mr. Allen taught me to hold my writing to a very high standard that has helped me to succeed at Williams and at Oxford," Sit said.

Allen's teaching philosophy is marked by devotion to egalitarian public education. "The key to a working democracy is high quality public education," he explained, adding, "the greater the system of public education, the greater the republic." Despite his own privileged background, Allen realized early in his career that he wanted to teach students "born and raised without my many advantages." So he did: he taught advanced placement students at an urban public high school. But he soon found that the American public school system focuses on students with special needs or special abilities, leaving the middling students "largely written off" or "dismissed." Allen sought to fix the inequity by revising his teaching method and his philosophy. "Regardless of aptitude," he said, "all students, all people need to be treated and taught as intellectually worthy."

Allen described teaching as his "lifelong civic duty," a meaningful and rewarding way for those to whom much is given to give back.

He received his B.A. from Middlebury College and his M.F.A. in writing from Bard College.

Chung Chan, John Dewey High School, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Senior Jing W. Cao remembers Chung Chan as a superb history teacher who taught when he didn't need to and helped when he didn't have to. Chan filled his lectures with thought-provoking puzzles, amusing demonstrations, and engaging "stories" of the past. Once, to prove that Greek art is idealized, Chan compared his own body to a chiseled sculpture of a discus thrower. He asked, "See the fat coming from my belly side? Everyone has that. Take a look in the shower."

Under Chan's influence, Cao, a self-described hater of history, came to love the subject. But Chan did far more for him than that. Cao had just immigrated from China and he was struggling to understand American culture and the English language. Chan, who had previously taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, began to tutor him in English. Together they pored over articles and book chapters, and before long, Chan was patiently reviewing the essays Cao wrote for other classes.

Chan's tutelage went even farther. All of his students were welcome to drop by his house anytime they "wanted to learn" -- even during holidays and vacations. "Just name your interest, and he would give you a book from his basement and tell you how you should read it," Cao recalled. Then, "when you finished the book he would spend an entire afternoon talking about it with you." Chan also steered his students through their college searches, canceled his own summer plans in order to offer SAT tutoring sessions, and assumed responsibilities at "orders of magnitude beyond those of a high school teacher."

Chan left a job at a Wall Street investment firm to teach bilingual classes at John Dewey High School. Though the first few years were tough, he said, "the intrinsic reward more than made up for everything that I had to endure." Larry Orsini, another social studies teacher at John Dewey, said, "Mr. Chan follows 'Tikkum olam' or healing the world; a responsibility for the welfare of society at large. He views his efforts to aid his students as one way to improve their lives, and society as a result."

Chan received his B.A. from the University of Toronto.

Stephen Mounkhall, Scarsdale (N.Y.) High School

If the ideal college is Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student on the other, senior Alexandra L. Roth reasons, then the ideal high school must be a room with two chairs -- one for English teacher Stephen Mounkhall and the other for his student.

Roth described Mounkhall as a "truly remarkable teacher" whose patience, creative zeal, and immense talent are obvious. He taught students the art of "moving from the concrete to the abstract." He gave thought-provoking assignments, once asking students to write in Holden Caulfield's voice during a section on J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye." And, while never dismissing any comment as "wrong," he pushed his students to think harder and more critically than ever before.

Mounkhall has studied the dynamics of class discussions, and he's learned how they zoom, sputter, dart, die, come back to life, and then-sometimes-yield "a new kind of knowledge, made right there, in front of everybody, by everybody." The best thing he can do, he finds, is to stay silent: "Not every day. Not every period. But at least a few days a week, at first, and then for whole weeks at a time. Not for the whole period. But for 44 out of the 49 minutes." When students are faced with expectant teacher silence, they learn to carry discussions on their own, and they reach conclusions that surprise and impress everyone in the room. The results, Roth said, were "class discussions that convinced cranky 14-year-olds of the relevance of literary thought."

Mounkhall brought the same attitude to his duties as the student newspaper adviser. A "constant fixture" at editorial staff meetings, he made sure that the newspaper met standards of student journalism, but "his authority retained a sort of guiding quality." Roth explained, "He didn't force us to make decisions, but created an environment in which we could arrive at responsible conclusions on our own."

His mentorship went still farther. One semester he volunteered to guide Roth through an independent study project, which she remembered as "one of the most rewarding experiences" of her high school career. Mounkhall is naturally drawn to the role of mentor, he said. "Human beings need guides in the transitional moments of their lives" -- like the beginning and end of high school -- and "I never feel as vital as when I can be that guide for somebody."

"(Mounkhall) is without question one of the most important contributors to our school," said John Klemme, principal of Scarsdale High School. "His students revere and respect him -- and they remember him."

Mounkhall received his B.A. from Fordham University and his M.A. in English from City College.

Michelle Santarelli, Pine Crest School, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Michelle Santarelli has distinguished herself by making sure that her students distinguish themselves.

"Michelle sets high standards of achievement for all her students," Pine Crest Upper School Head N. A. Huebsch says.  "Many of them credit her with an interest in biology, their confidence, and their fine study skills." Perhaps it is no coincidence then that she makes it her goal to get students excited about biology and the scientific method.

Santarelli explains her methods by referring to an old Chinese proverb taped to her desk: "I hear, and I forget; I see, and I remember; I do, and I understand." This engaging approach brought out the best in Angela Crudele '08, who entered Santarelli's Honors Biology class her sophomore year at Pine Crest. Crudele remembers being surprised by four simple words: "you can do better."

"The rest of that year was constant self-discovery," Crudele says. "No reward," Santarelli says, "is as precious to me as igniting within a student a genuine love of learning."

Fortunately for students like Crudele and the rest of the Pine Crest community, Santarelli's approach to learning extends far beyond the biology classroom. Santarelli is an outstanding member of the school community, who has worked tirelessly to supervise the National Beta Honor Club, an academic honorary organization that recognizes students who demonstrate both high academic success and involvement in school sponsored organizations. Santarelli is also involved with the Science Vertical Team at Pine Crest, working on reviewing and revising the school's first through twelfth grade science curriculum.

In Huebsch's words, Santarelli's "big picture" approach to teaching, her drive for excellence, and her great sense of humor "endears her to the administration, her colleagues, and her students."

Each year, Santarelli says, she introduces "biology to my students by relating my sincere belief that they are learning about biology at the most exciting time in our history. The knowledge they gain regarding these events empowers them to react with understanding to present events and sculpt the path of the future."

A University of Virginia graduate and a Pine Crest School alumnus, Santarelli returned to her alma mater to teach in 1998.

END

Founded in 1793, Williams College is the second oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college's 2,000 students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their teaching and research, and the achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in their research. Students' educational experience is enriched by the residential campus environment in Williamstown, Mass., which provides a host of opportunities for interaction with one another and with faculty beyond the classroom. Admission decisions are made regardless of a student's financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted.
To visit the college on the Internet www.williams.edu