Dr. Stephanie Henry was nominated by the California Council for the Social Studies for the Diane L. Brooks Administrative Award. This award recognizes an administrator at the district, state, or local level who has contributed significantly to the profession of social studies education. Dr. Henry's exemplary skills, education, and commitment to high quality social studies education were noted in the nomination.
Dr. Henry has been instrumental in the integration of civic engagement into experiential learning opportunities for OPA students at all grade levels.
“I support and teach teachers on how to take a project in the classroom and turn it into a real-world experience. That authentic experiential learning is what we are trying to create, to have students actually participate in civic engagement as part of the lesson.”
Our champions can be found engaging in experiential learning in activities such as partnering with the City of Mission Viejo during OPA’s annual day of service which was recently highlighted in an OCDE Newsroom article. Others have written letters to the President of the United States and for Veterans Day they wrote letters to Veterans.
A leader within the education community, Dr. Henry recently spoke at the Orange County Social Studies Administrator Network (OCSSAD) on how to implement civic learning in elementary and middle schools. Additionally, both Dr. Henry and Ms. Roney from the OPA-MS were recently highlighted in a video produced by the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) demonstrating a civic engagement lesson in the classroom.
Civic engagement is a core competency taught at OPA, reflected by over 80% of our 5th and 6th grade students earning the Civic Learning Pathway Award from the OCDE.
Congratulations Dr. Henry, we are so fortunate to have you as our Chief Academic Officer!
The California Council for the Social Studies is a non-profit professional organization serving public and private school educators. They represent the leading voice for quality social studies education in California, committed to strengthening the teaching and learning of history-social studies through standards-based professional development, resource sharing, and public awareness and advocacy through strategic partnerships at the local, state and national levels.