Donna Ewing, Easton Middle School Band Director, has been recognized as the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Teacher of the Year at the Post, District and State level for the VFW Department of Maryland. Additionally, she was recognized at the VFW National level for being one of the State level winners in her category.
The VFW Teacher of the Year award contest recognizes exceptional teachers for their outstanding commitment to teaching Americanism and Patriotism to their students. This year due to the pandemic, all teachers who made it to the top level in their state were given National recognition. Not all states had a candidate for Teacher of the Year, so Donna was in a select group that received this honor.
The awards were presented at the school by Mike Johnson, VFW District 4 Commander, and Kenley Timms, VFW Post 5118 Commander. “We were honored to have Donna as our candidate as she is an exemplary role model for Americanism and Patriotism,” said Mike.
Donna’s nomination included the following testimonial: “Mrs. Ewing has always been a staunch supporter of all the Veterans organizations and their programs. Without fail while teaching music as her primary duty, she actively has her students participate in the annual Patriot’s Pen program. She has supported the Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day programs for the Veteran’s Cemetery in Hurlock for the past 25 years, and numerous other events. Our post strongly supports Mrs. Ewing for the Teacher of the Year Award as she instills the finest qualities in today’s youth who will become our future leaders.”
“Mrs. Ewing is very deserving of this award,” said Dr. Jodi Colman, Principal of Easton Middle School. “She devotes a significant amount of time and energy inspiring her students to not only be good musicians but to also understand the impact that they can have through music.”