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About the Marian Greenblatt Education Fund
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History of the Marian Greenblatt Education Fund
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Interesting facts about our winners/the Fund
About the Marian Greenblatt Education Fund
The Marian Greenblatt Education Fund commemorates the efforts of Dr. Marian Greenblatt to improve education in Montgomery County. She was elected to the Montgomery County Board of Education from 1976 - 1984, and served as its President during 1978 - 1979. She worked to raise academic standards for students, eliminate frivolous courses, decrease class sizes, increase teacher budgets, and eliminate truancies.
The Fund was established on the passing of Dr. Greenblatt in 1988 and is managed by her family. Contributions to the Fund are tax-deductible, as the US Internal Revenue Service has designated it a 501c(3) organization.
The Fund has recognized exceptional Master Teachers, Rising-Star Teachers, and Aspiring Teachers, as well as outstanding students in Social Studies and Foreign Language Studies in Montgomery County, MD. Currently, the Fund is supporting breast cancer research at Suburban and Sibley Hospitals, whose recent affiliation with Johns Hopkins University permits the Fund to play a small role in advancing the world-class efforts of the premier Medical School in the United States.
History of the Marian Greenblatt Education Fund
1988 Marian Greenblatt Education Fund is established to honor the memory of Dr. Greenblatt with awards for excellence in teaching in Montgomery County, MD.
1989 First Greenblatt Award is given, to Mrs. E. A. Stonecifer of Gaithersburg Middle School.
1993 The Fund expands its award for an experienced teacher to two teachers, since there are so many excellent nominees.
1997 First-Year Teacher Award is given for the first time, to Ms. Tamar Ridenour of Greencastle Elementary School.
1998 Marian Greenblatt Social Studies Award is established to recognize one junior at each public high school for Excellence in
Social Studies, the teaching specialty of Dr. Greenblatt.
2000 The Fund expands its awards for experienced teachers to three winners.
2004 Marian Greenblatt Fund co-founds the Information Technology Foundation, to teach computer repair and network operations to MCPS high school students.
2005 Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education (MCBRE) and Marian Greenblatt Fund establish a joint effort to choose the Montgomery County Teacher of the Year from among the three Marian Greenblatt Experienced Teacher Award winners, with support from Montgomery County Public Schools.
2006 The first County Teacher of the Year chosen jointly by MCBRE and the Greenblatt Fund, Ms. Kim Oliver, is selected Maryland Teacher of the Year and National Teacher of the Year. President Bush honors Ms. Oliver at the White House.
2007 Foreign Language Scholarship Awards are established at Watkins Mill High School by the Walter and Perlita Jones Family, the Naval Research Laboratory Plasma Physics Fellows, and the Marian Greenblatt Fund. The first winners are Debra Samuel and James Afful.
2011 Rising-Star Teacher Award replaces First-Year Teacher Award, extending eligibility to Second-Year Teachers, so principals have more time to evaluate new teachers.
2012 First Greenblatt Award to an Aspiring Teacher at the University of Maryland is made, to Ms. Laura Cloher.
2014 Rising-Star Teacher Award eligibility is extended to the first four years. Master Teacher Award is given to one elementary school teacher, one middle school teacher and one high school teacher. A pilot program is established in Chicago for scholarships to graduates of Senn High School.
2016 Two Rising-Star Teachers are recognized for the first time.
2017 The Fund doubles the award levels for Master Teachers from $1000 to $2000, and for Rising-Star Teachers from $500 to $1000.
2021 The Fund turns its attention to Breast Cancer by supporting research at Sibley Hospital in Washington, DC, and patient education at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, MD.
2022 The Jones/Greenblatt Drone Scholarship effort begins with the award of scholarships to two students at Magruder High School.
Interesting facts about our winners/the Fund:
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As of December 2021, the Fund has awarded $194,300 to excellent teachers and students since its founding in 1989, of which $112,500 has gone to 114 teachers and $76,300 to 571 students.
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Teachers of Music and Automotive Technology (the latter a part of Career and Technical Education) have been honored by the Greenblatt Fund and then were named County Teachers of the Year in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Other Music teachers were honored in 2013 and 2019.
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Three Special Education teachers have been honored.
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Three Rising-Star winners entered teaching as a second career, after 20 years each in the private sector. They succeeded immediately in their new profession.
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Two teams of teachers have been recognized: a trio from Wyngate Elementary School in 1995 and two physics teachers at Richard Montgomery High School who covered the physics program after a veteran teacher passed away suddenly, in 1999.
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One English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher has been honored.
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One school, Clarksburg High School, has had five past and present MGEF awardees teaching at the same time.
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MGEF has honored one set of siblings, Mr. Sean Kelly in 2008 and Mr. Brendan Kelly in 2019.
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Among our judges over the years have been members of the Greenblatt and Friedman families, three teachers with almost 100 years experience in MCPS (including a former AP Biology teacher, a Marian Greenblatt winner, and a former Board of Education member), an educator/businessperson from the Universities at Shady Grove, and a retired MCPS Deputy Superintendent.
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The Fund, a 501c(3) non-profit organization, was founded and is managed by Dr. Marshal Greenblatt, husband of the late Dr. Marian Greenblatt, and their sons. They can be contacted at info@greenblatteducationfund.org
