NewsUpper SchoolStudent LifeFaculty/StaffPre-K to 8Service
Van Es Wins Inaugural Betts Prize
Jun 1, 2000 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
Middle School Principal Jim Van Es is the recipient of the inaugural Betts Master Teacher Award, a cash prize given in memory of the late Oscar Betts ’19. The award, the only one made to a teacher at commencement, is endowed through a bequest from the Betts estate.
The recipient of this award is selected by the president with the advice of the headmaster from candidates nominated in writing by members of the graduating class. The Betts Award, therefore, is “not only the gift of the school, but of the graduating class, symbolic of the graduates’ appreciation for the many teachers who contributed to their development while students at Darlington,” President David Hicks said.
Van Es received the highest number of nominations from the Class of 2000, many members of whom he taught algebra and coached in basketball.
“That the senior class, four years removed from the Middle School, believes that Van Es is deserving of this award says everything about what he does for kids in the Middle School,” Hicks said. “The depth of his influence and the power of his personal example are amazing.”
The recipient of this award is selected by the president with the advice of the headmaster from candidates nominated in writing by members of the graduating class. The Betts Award, therefore, is “not only the gift of the school, but of the graduating class, symbolic of the graduates’ appreciation for the many teachers who contributed to their development while students at Darlington,” President David Hicks said.
Van Es received the highest number of nominations from the Class of 2000, many members of whom he taught algebra and coached in basketball.
“That the senior class, four years removed from the Middle School, believes that Van Es is deserving of this award says everything about what he does for kids in the Middle School,” Hicks said. “The depth of his influence and the power of his personal example are amazing.”
