University of Wisconsin - Rock County
2909 Kellogg Avenue
Janesville, WI 53546
Contact the UR Office:
E-Mail: uroffice@uwc.edu
Phone: 608-758-6530

6/17/2009

Two Receive UW-Rock County Teaching Awards

Janesville -- The University of Wisconsin-Rock County’s two most prestigious teaching awards were recently awarded to Jeff Suarez of Janesville and Ann Trow of rural Albany. These awards are given to two instructors who demonstrate a command of their discipline, effective teaching style, interest in student learning and use of instructional technology.

Suarez received the 2008-09 Mavis and George Steil Excellence in Teaching Award. Suarez is an associate professor of music who started teaching at UW-Rock County in 2002. He holds bachelor’s degrees in music theory/composition and music education from Central Michigan University, a master’s degree in music from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and a doctorate in musical arts from UW-Madison.

During the academic year, Suarez taught several music courses, including Music Theory and Music in the U.S., in addition to Band, Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble and Aural Skills. A student who took several of these courses, wrote of Suarez, “Personally, my skills have grown exponentially since the year began. If one of his teaching strategies fails, he immediately begins a different type due to the fact that all students have different learning types.”

The student nominator recognized Suarez’s desire to help students achieve their individual goals and noted his unique classroom style as a main reason for nominating him, saying, “I cannot express in enough words how deserving Jeff is of this title. His equilibrium of fun and professionalism in the classroom is simply brilliant and hard to come by in an educational lifetime.”

Trow received the sixth annual UW-Rock County Instructional Academic Staff Excellence in Teaching Award. She began teaching at UW-Rock County as a mathematics lecturer in the fall of 2005 and also works as a math specialist in the federally funded TRIO student support services program on campus. She has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics education and a master’s degree in education-professional development, all from UW-Whitewater.

Students of Trow nominated her for this award. Wrote one, “She is quick with identifying troubles that students develop in learning math, but she always has great strategies to help students get over their stumble.” That student goes on to say that Trow has inspired her to become a math teacher herself.

Another student nominator wrote of Trow, “She knows math and she continues to prove her skill with the amount of successful students that leave with a greater knowledge of math, as well as the number of new students that sign up to tutor with her.”

All four of her student nominators noted Trow’s caring nature, commitment to student success and ability to connect with each individual’s needs as reasons for recommending her for a teaching award.

The two teaching awards include a small monetary award provided by the UW-Rock County Foundation and are made possible through donations to foundation. For more information about the foundation, call (608) 758-6628.