The Beta Theta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International has announced that Faith Woodcock, a 2020 graduate of Sodus CSD and Alandra Kunz, a 2021 graduate of Williamson SCD, were selected as the Mary Putnam Recruitment grant recipients for the years of 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Woodcock was active in both Sodus Central Schools District and in service to her community. She participated in choral and instrumental programs as well as Varsity Volleyball and National Honor Society at school and volunteered with her church as a children’s church helper for the six years of her 7th-12th grades. As a 2020 high school graduate, Woodcock enrolled at Finger Lakes Community College, and since she’d accumulated credits for college level courses during her high school years, was able to complete the FLCC program at the end of the 2021 Spring Semester. She is now continuing her studies at SUNY Geneseo, for a degree in Early Childhood Education.
Kunz at Williamson CSD, has been an active participant in music and drama, both through her school and also with groups in the wider community. In addition to her involvement in several school choirs and multiple musicals, featuring both her gifts of song and dance, she also participated in the Gatesinger Company in Pultneyville from 2014 to the present. Kunz has also been part of the track and cross county programs at Williamson CSD. She has volunteered at several musical events as an usher, a set painter, and as a supporter of younger actors. Kunz is now attending SUNY Potsdam to pursue her passion for music through earning a degree in Music Education.
Mary Putnam was a charter member of Beta Theta when it was first formed in 1969. She served children in the Sodus Central School District in many capacities: first grade teacher, primary reading teacher, reading coordinator, primary principal, and curriculum supervisor for grades K-12. She then went on to Pi State (currently New York State DKG) to fill several leadership positions, before joining the Administrative Board of Delta Kappa International as a member-at-large, later serving as International First Vice President. The Beta Theta Mary Putnam Recruitment Grant was established in 1981 in her honor.
The Putnam grant totals $1,000 and is given to any student pursuing a career in education. Students attending the following schools are eligible and encouraged to apply for the grant: Clyde-Savannah, Gananda, Lyons, Marion, Newark, North Rose-Wolcott, Red Creek, Palmyra-Macedon, Sodus, Wayne, or Williamson. Recipients are selected by the Professional Affairs Committee upon review of each candidate’s application, letters of recommendation and transcript. Applications will be available in each school’s Guidance Offices in January and will be returned by April 1st to the Beta Theta Professional Affairs Committee.
