At Schenck Elementary School in Denver, third-grade teacher Diane Marie Palmer-Furman views her school as a beautiful piece of music, and herself as part of the team that composes it. Mrs. Palmer-Furman engages students in curriculum by making learning relevant for them. She helped introduce a new reading and writing program to the staff, and with a team of teachers, created an instructional unit for informative writing. Every student in her classroom last year made gains of at least one grade level on the Colorado Basic Literacy Act (CBLA) Assessment. Mrs. Palmer-Furman is currently working toward an endorsement in English Language Acquisition (ELA). Listed in Who's Who Among America's Teachers in 2002, Mrs. Palmer-Furman is currently a book room coordinator and a Denver Kids mentor to a high school student.
