Needless to say, I was very surprised and honored when the foundation announced the naming of this award earlier this summer.  I am truly proud to have my name associated with an award given to a teacher for innovation and excellence.

It has been a pleasure for me to serve as an education advisor to the CEEF board for the past 5 years.  During that time, I have served with many of you and together we have seen a vision become a reality through the efforts of many tremendously dedicated community volunteers.  I am thrilled and awed at what has been accomplished in such a short time.  Through its generosity, CEEF has given Cape's classroom teachers the opportunity to widen the boundaries of their imagination and enrich, even more so, the learning experiences of our students.   We have seen thousands of dollars in grant monies be made available in our classrooms and our schools in recognition of the creativity and innovations of our teachers.  As a community member, parent , and teacher, I am proud to be associated with the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation and all of you, the educators of this community.

It gives me great pleasure to announce the first recipient of the Brownell Award that recognizes the creative nature and successful implementation of a CEEf grant.  This fellow teacher has created an atmosphere of exploration for a special group of kids who like to tinker, create, problem solve, and compete.  He has solicited the help of experts from the community and sought out local competitions in which students can participate.  He has spent countless hours organizing, facilitating, and energizing the interest in robotics at the high school and middle school levels.  For the successful and enthusiastic implementation of a CEEF grant in robotics, please join me in congratulating, Evan Thayer.