Anne Wescott Dodd, chair of the Department of Education, has received the 2000 Kroepsch Award for Excellence in Teaching.

In nominating Dodd for the prize, endowed by Robert H. Kroepsch, a 1933 graduate of Bates, one student wrote: "She opened up my eyes to new concepts in education that I would have never anticipated; she wanted me to be sure that I was striving for excellence and not perfection, that I was learning for the intrinsic benefits and not for the extrinsic reward of high marks."

A former Maine public school teacher and principal, Dodd joined the Bates faculty in 1984, where she supervises student teachers and teaches courses such as "Gender Issues in Education" and "Redesigning the American High School." She and nine of her Bates students co-authored "The Challenge of Changing Schools," an essay featured in the winter 2000 Journal of Maine Education.

A Maine native, Dodd is the author of "A Parent's Guide to Innovative Education" (Noble Press, 1992) named one of the 10 best books for parents by Child Magazine in 1992 and co-author of "Making Our High Schools Better: How Parents and Teachers Can Work Together" (St. Martin's Press, 1999). A passionate beachcomber, Dodd is the author of two children's picture books on the subject, "The Story of Sea Glass" (Down East, 1999) and "Footprints and Shadows" (Simon and Schuster, 1992), as well as other books on writing and teaching.

"Teaching is not telling," Dodd says. "It's designing the right context in which learning will take place." An educator for 39 years, Dodd sees the Kroepsch Award as a formal recognition of her teaching. "It's very moving to get a teaching award for teaching."