(TMA Global)

CHICAGO – The Turnaround Management Association (TMA) will present the Butler-Cooley Excellence in Teaching Award to two educators at The TMA Annual on September 30 at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto, Ontario.

This year’s recipients are Brian McDowell, science teacher at Mason County Schools in Germantown, Kentucky, and Michael Guarraia, science teacher at Arbutus Middle School in Arbutus, Maryland. 

Established in 2004 with a grant from the John Wm. Butler Foundation, Inc., the Butler-Cooley Excellence in Teaching Awards Program honors teachers who have demonstrated their capacity to change the outcome of students’ lives and the communities where they teach. The program is named in honor of Leslie Bender Butler and Cindy Butler Cooley, relatives of a past TMA chairman who collectively have spent more than 50 years as teachers, and recognizes the central role that teaching has in the life of the association.

McDowell teaches 6th, 7th, and 8th grade science at Mason County Middle School in Maysville, Kentucky. He uses active learning methods to keep students engaged and excited about the earth sciences. He has found success by focusing on inquiry, discovery, and scientific thinking. McDowell has created an outdoor nature trail that includes a dinosaur trackway, bird blind, and even an authentic Martian landscape. The local community has positively benefited from McDowell’s work. Since the introduction of inquiry-based learning, there has been a significant increase in students who choose STEM related college majors. Read more about McDowell.

Guarraia teaches 8th grade science at Arbutus Middle School in Arbutus, Maryland. After becoming department chair, he worked tirelessly to improve the antiquated science pedagogy. He improved instruction across the science department by identifying professional development opportunities for teachers. Guarraia summarizes his teaching philosophy in four words: kids learn by doing. He inspires engagement by presenting a problem that students must solve collaboratively during an experiment. He creates opportunities for exploration by providing students more control in the learning process. Guarraia also runs two engineering focused programs to motivate students to pursue engineering careers. Read more about Guarraia.

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About the Turnaround Management Association
The Turnaround Management Association (TMA) is the leading organization dedicated to turnaround management, corporate restructuring, and distressed investing. Established in 1988, TMA has more than 9,300 members in 49 chapters worldwide, including 31 in North America. Members include turnaround practitioners, attorneys, accountants, advisors, liquidators, executive recruiters, and consultants, as well as academic, government, and judicial employees.

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