This April, Kennedy psychology teacher Dana Melone was selected to receive the American Psychological Association TOPSS Charles T. Blair-Broeker Excellence in Teaching award. After nomination in 2017 for which she was not selected, Melone was nominated again and became the first teacher in Kennedy history to win.
Melone has been teaching for 22 years, 15 of them at Kennedy. She is the advisor for Cougar Bandana, Kennedy’s mental health awareness and support group. She is also in charge of the Psychology National Honors Society Psi Alpha, a program new to Kennedy that is picking up in popularity among her students. Melone not only teaches psychology within school day hours,
Before becoming an award recipient, you must be nominated by someone who believes you meet the criteria of excellence in teaching high school psychology. Nominees then go through the application process.
“The application included my resume, a letter about myself and my passion for psych, a lesson plan, and letters of [recommendation] from students and staff,” Melone said. “After they receive my application and all the other applications, they redact any identifying information to avoid bias and a committee uses a rubric to score and select the winners. The committee is made up of members of the APA as well as high school and college professors.”
Junior at Kennedy Slader Buckheister was a student that wrote Melone a letter of recommendation to receive the award.
“From the first day of class, it was clear that Mrs. Melone possessed a unique ability to make difficult concepts of psychology easy to understand” Buckheister wrote. “I can confidently say that psychology with Melone taught me more about myself than any other class to this day. Whether it be identifying when we were experiencing hindsight bias or adapting to stressors to lead happier lives, Mrs. Melone covered it all.”
Melone learned she won the award April 4 and Kennedy Principal Jason Kline sent an email to staff on April 8 to announce and celebrate the accomplishment to fellow staff.
“Ms. Melone was selected for this award for her achievements both inside and outside of the classroom and for her passion for teaching,” Kline wrote. “She strives to make her classroom accessible to any student with an interest in psychology and uses hands-on labs and demonstrations in class.”
Kline has worked with Melone for twelve years, and is beyond excited for her.
“I can say this is not a surprise,” Kline said. “She has routinely gone above and beyond to be the very best at her craft. And when I think about all of the things she has done to make this school a better place, including starting the Cougar Bandana and Mental Health Matters groups. I cannot thank her enough for how much she continues to impact everyone in this building.”
For Melone, receiving this award is reassurance in her skills of teaching and psychology.
“I remember 22 years ago going to my 4 day professional development to aid teachers in the teaching of AP Psych. My leader of that institute was Charlie Blair Broeker, who the award is named after,” Melone said. “He led me to understand the importance of psych in and out of the classroom. My family has made a lot of sacrifices for me to do this work and it is not always understood by people outside the psych community. To be recognized for this work as well as my teaching is a huge honor and to get the award named after the man who set it all in motion is even greater.”
