BSCAA Awards History

The BSCAA Distinguished Service Award, conferred annually, honors years of service to Bank Street College and its alumni associations and demonstrated dedication and commitment to furthering the beliefs and practices of Bank Street College.

The BSCAA Recognition Award, conferred annually, honors outstanding accomplishments in the field of education which exemplify the spirit and philosophy of Bank Street College.

The BSCAA Ida Karp Award is presented, when appropriate, to either an alum or non-alum, to honor consistent and outstanding dedication to Bank Street College, its philosophy and its long term goals.

The Twelfth Annual Alumni Awards Ceremony will be held on October 30, 2008

Between 1972 and Stan's return to Bank Street as a member of the graduate school faculty in 1989, he taught children at Brooklyn Friends, was the founding director of the Garden State Teacher Center, and worked with teachers at the City College Workshop Center, then directed by Lillian Weber in the 1970's and later by Hubert Dyasi during the 1980's.

His work at Bank Street has included The Voyage of the Mimi's MASTTE Program, and international education work in Nepal, Singapore, Taiwan, Laos, Calcutta, Sikkim, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Shanghai. For four years, he occasionally wrote curriculum for the Primary Years Program of the International Baccalaurate in Wales.

Stan now is Director of the Intern and Assistant Teacher Pathway, a fieldwork advisor in the program, and an instructor of the Science for Teachers course.

Recognition Award: Barbara Ferguson Kamara '81
Barbara Kamara is the recently retired Administrator of the District of Columbia Department of Human Services' Early Care and Education Administration. She si responsible for expanding the Early Care and Education Administration's annual budget from $50,000 to $110 million. This allowed her work team to provide financial assistance for child care to more than 29,000 District of Columbia children a year, serve more infants and toddlers with disabilities and provide apprenticeship programs for child development specialist.

Ms. Kamara brought to her position a wealth of experience from the classroom to the Federal government. President Carter appointed her associate commissioner in the Department of Health and Human Services where she was responsible for the National Head Start Program, the Appalachian Regional Commission child development programs, child care regulations, and research and demonstration programs. She managed a budget of approximately one billion dollars.

She was a Peace Corps volunteer and served in Liberia where she taught mathematics to students and teachers, established a newspaper and coached track.

In November 2006, Ms. Kamara was one of seven recipients of the ABC 7 and Toyota Salute to Working Women Award. In February of 2002, Ms. Kamara received the Human Services Award from the National Federation of Black Business Owners. In February 2001, Ms. Kamara, along with the late Katharine Graham of The Washington Post, received the "Terry Golden" Achievement award in honor of significant contributions toward quality of life improvement for Washington, DC children and families. In 2000, she was one of five persons to receive the first "Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Award" for Distinguished D C Government Employees. She is a recipient of the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Early Childhood Development's "Children's Champion Award"; the "President's Scroll" from the University of the District of Columbia in recognition of extraordinary and continued service and support in the rebuilding of Early Childhood Teacher Education, Professional Development and Research Programs at the University and has been named one of twelve African American Early Childhood Educators of the 20th Century.

Under her leadership, the District of Columbia has achieved the distinction of number one in the United States in terms of nationally accredited programs compared to licensed programs. She has actively built partnerships in the District with the banking, legal, community development, retail, philanthropic, hotel and restaurant communities.

Her board memberships include the D. C. United Way, the Developmental Disabilities Council, the Mayor's Committee on Persons with Disabilities, the Early Childhood Obesity Collaborative and the Coalition of Friends of Liberia. She is a life member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the Urban League. She also holds membership in the National Black Child Development Institute, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Lamond Riggs Civic Association, the Friends of Liberia and the National Peace Corps Association, the Johnson C. Smith University Alumni Association and the Williston High School Alumni Association.

She is an active member of her local church as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ. She is the Region III President of the United Black Christians of the United Church of Christ. Region III included Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia and Northern Virginia

IDA Karp Award: Don Cook
Don Cook joined the staff of the Tiorati Workshop for Environmental Learning in 1979 as a science and environmental educator. He became Director of the Tiorati Workshop and joined the Bank Street College faculty in 1984.

He received his BA from Grinnell College in Iowa in 1963, and subsequently spent three years teaching at the American School of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. He came to New York to pursue a Masters in Education Teachers College. Masters degree in hand, he took courses toward the doctorate, but found he was not ready to write the dissertation.

Don held an adjunct position at Hunter College for several years before joining the staff of the Tiorati Workshop. He has given workshops on science teaching at various conferences for teachers in New York City. He served as chair of the science education committee of the New York Academy of Sciences.

At Bank Street he has organized what he calls "short trips," to expose members of the community to nature and science in the city. A short trip about the fall migration of Monarch butterflies resulted in a brief appearance on ABC news.

Eleventh Annual BSCAA Awards Ceremony: 2007

Distinguished Service Award-Priscilla Woyke '96
Recognition Award-Carmen Alvarez '81, Ada Rosario Dolch '93

2006

Distinguished Service Award - Salvatore J. Vascellaro '75
Recognition Award - Rebecca H. Cort '76, '78
Ida Karp Award - Carmen Farina

2005

Distinguished Service Award - Claire Wurtzel '77
Recognition Award - Anne W. Mitchell '88

2004

Distinguished Service Award - Linda R. Levine ' 76
Recognition Award - Diane Trister Dodge '70
Ida Karp Award - John H. Niemeyer (conferred posthumously)

2003

Distinguished Service Award - James A. Neuberger '85
Recognition Award - Kathleen Crosby '70, Mary Timson '94
Ida Karp Award - Elizabeth Pforzheimer

2002

Distinguished Service Award - Esther Rosenfeld '83
Recognition Award - Roberta (Robie) Harris '64
Ida Karp Award - Sally Kerlin '36 (conferred posthumously)

2001

Distinguished Service Award - Lynn Straus '47, Beverly Walsh '88
Recognition Award - Selma Knobler '69, Janice Koeppel Strasser '89

2000

Distinguished Service Award - Barbara Silver '80
Recognition Award - Nina Jaffe '83, Nancy Samalin '78, Eleanor Greig Ukoli '72
Ida Karp Award - Dr. Georgi Antar '74

1999

Distinguished Service Award - Davida Hirsch '71, Margo Neale '88
Recognition Award - Eileen Goldblatt '80, Lillian Gonzalez '90, Elsbeth Pfeiffer '53

1998

Distinguished Service Award - Fay Gang '47, Ellen Hausknecht '50, '76
Recognition Award - Harriet K. Cuffaro '69, Dr. Ronnie Gordon '63, Margaret Stern '44

1997 - First BSCAA Awards Ceremony

Distinguished Service Award - Dolly N. Cannon '89, Natalie Langner '64, Priscilla Pemberton '66
Recognition Award - Dr. William C. Ayers '84, Dr. Lorraine Monroe '78, Dorothy L. Stoneman '74