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CVEF Mission Statement
The
Coginchaug Valley Education Foundation
was founded in 2008 as an independent education foundation
The mission of CVEF is to promote excellence, innovation and creativity
in education for the community and to support life-long learning in Durham and Middlefield.
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CVEF Spring 2012 Newsletter now available
(Read more)
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High school science teacher and community activist Sue Michael has been
awarded the Howard Kelly Community Award. "I am deeply, deeply honored," expressed Michael at the
December 6 gathering in her honor.
Michael, a Durham resident, has taught science for 28 years. But, noted fellow-teacher
Lorrie Martin, who nominated Michael for the award and introduced her at the event,
that is really only one of many jobs she has taken on. "Peaceful, quiet and unassuming by
nature," noted Martin, Michael is committed to her school and her community, where
she "persistently, even tenaciously...pursues goal after goal, making the world around
us all just a little bit better."
At school, Michael is the Science Team leader. She has lead her team of eight in the development
of a wide range of course offerings at the high school. She coaches the Envirothon Team and
oversees the school's ECO club. When she's not doing the official work, she's taking on other
challenges, such as establishing a salad bar in the cafeteria, organizing a better garbage-sorting
station and maintaining gardens at the school.
In the community, Michael is a member (and currently the chair) of Durham's Clean Energy Task
Force - now prominently in the community news as ambassadors of the Solarize Durham project.
In addition, she helped coordinate a Boy Scouts/ECO collaboration to recycle cans and bottles at
the Durham Fair. With the assistance of a Rockfall Foundation grant, this recycling effort now
includes the town's sports complex grounds, where students maintain the collection of cans and
bottles.
Sue Michael with Renee Kelley and Michele Zito, Howard Kelly's wife and daughter
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