Philadelphia's McCreery Named InVEST "Teacher of the Year"

Barbara McCreery of Germantown High School, Philadelphia, Penn., was presented with the InVEST Teacher of the Year Award by the Independent Insurance Agents of America (IIAA). IIAA also honored Anne M. Kopanski, CPCU, ALCM, ARP, CPIW, as the winner of the Steven Dach Award, given in recognition of outstanding InVEST volunteerism.

"IIAA is proud to recognize Ms. McCreery as an individual who has committed so much of her energy and talent to InVEST," said Barbara Miller-Richards, IIAA's National InVEST Director. "In spite of overwhelming odds, she has consistently been an enthusiastic and dedicated proponent of the principles of InVEST."

Six years ago, McCreery convinced the administration of Germantown High School, an "at-risk," urban, low-income school, to integrate the InVEST curriculum into a four-year program covering all facets of career preparation. McCreery and Kopanski also designed, wrote and secured funding for a two-day teacher workshop in April that resulted in three new schools considering implementation of the InVEST Program.

McCreery works with minimal resources to adapt InVEST to her classes — she began the program with a $100 grant and has since sponsored "office garage sales" to furnish the classroom with an office environment; arranged for insurance company donations of old office supplies and out-of-date policy kits; and collected issues of industry publications for student research. McCreery also provides games that incorporate classroom lessons, visits to insurance companies and a pen-pal program with local professionals. Germantown InVEST classes have an attendance rate of approximately 95 percent, in contrast to the school-wide rate of approximately 65 percent.

McCreery and Kopanski also are InVEST advocates within the industry, having presented InVEST information sessions to organizations such as the Risk and Insurance Management Society, CPCU Society and Insurance Institutes of America. McCreery has secured five consecutive annual grants from the RIMS Spencer Educational Foundation and has built a network of insurance professionals to serve as information resources for InVEST.

The award was presented to McCreery during the National Board of State Directors meeting at IIAA's 103rd Annual Convention and Trade Show held in Boston this year. InVEST is a national program administered by IIAA to teach insurance-related business skills to high school and community college students in 25 states around the country. InVEST is funded solely through individual and corporate contributions.

As InVEST Teacher of the Year, McCreery received $500 for classroom materials and another $500 for personal use. Each year, IIAA local organizations and agencies nominate teachers involved with the InVEST program for the award. The winner is selected by a five-member panel of IIAA's national staff.

Anne M. Kopanski, CPCU, ALCM, ARP, CPIW, of Glenside, Penn., also was honored during the meeting with the Steven Dach Award. The award, presented in memory of InVEST founder Steven Dach, Los Angeles, Calif., is given annually to the volunteer who as contributed substantially to further InVEST's growth and development in his or her community. Kopanski, president of Kopanski Consulting and immediate past president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the CPCU Society, has been involved in the InVEST program since 1992, when she recommended the program to McCreery as a business simulation curriculum for McCreery's classes. Kopanski has been directly involved with the Germantown classes since the beginning.