DATE: Friday, April 18, 1997                TAG: 9704180593

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

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MILESTONES

PORTSMOUTH

Diana Jarrett, director of nursing for Bon Secours Maryview Nursing Care Center, has been recognized g1miles18 Diana

Jarrett

as ``Director of Nursing of the Year'' by the Virginia Association of Directors of Nursing Administration and Long Term Care.

Jarrett, a Portsmouth resident, was chosen for this award from applicants across the state and was presented the award at Maryview's Leadership Staff meeting by May Bryant, founder of the Virginia Association of Directors of Nursing Administration.

``The main criteria used in selecting the recipient of this award is to look at the significant contributions they have made in long-term health care,'' Bryant said, adding that Jarrett ``is very rare as a person and a nursing leader. She is the best of the best, and I am very excited she won this award.''

Eileen Malo, Administrator at Maryview Nursing Care Center, said, ``Diana possesses a large heart that overflows with love to those she serves both as a nurse and as a supervisor. She is a true professional and an admirable human being.''

CHESAPEAKE

Dr. Michael S. Weissman of Chesapeake has been installed as presig2miles18 Michael S.

Weissman dent of the Virginia Academy of Clinical Psychologists.

He is director of Churchland Psychological Center and is an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Eastern Virginia Medical School.

Weissman is a past president of the Tidewater Academy of Clinical Psychologists, past chairman of the Churchland Interfaith Council, past president of Temple Sinai in Portsmouth and a past member of the Board of Directors of the United Jewish Federation.

NORFOLK

Northside Middle School teacher Judy Gulledge has received a 1996 g3miles18 Judy

Gulledge

Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Only one secondary school teacher in each state receives the award each year.

The honor includes a $7,500 National Science Foundation grant to enhance Northside's science program.

The Presidential Award isn't Gulledge's first. She recently received the Drug, Chemical and Allied Trades ``Making a Difference'' award, which included $2,500 to benefit her school's science program.

In the past, she has been a co-winner of the GTE Growth Initiatives for Teachers grant and a Virginia Environmental Endowment.

Gulledge, who chairs Northside's science department, conducts the school's Saturday Science Workshops for Families and involves her students in extensive research on the Chesapeake Bay. Gulledge has been a science teacher for 23 years, 13 in Norfolk.

SUFFOLK

Gary S. Cisco, a supervisor in the Police Department's emergency communications center, has been named Disabled Professional Person of the Year by Virginia District Pilot International.

Cisco, 39, has been paralyzed from the waist down since a 1988 traffic accident.

He will be honored Saturday at a luncheon at the Staunton Holiday Inn.

He also was named Disabled Professional Person of the Year by the Suffolk Pilot Club and will receive that award at a banquet Monday night.

A Suffolk High School graduate, Cisco was a firefighter for the Fire Department until his accident. He was on his way to work when a truck pulled in front of his pickup on Holland Road and the two vehicles collided.

After several months at Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center in Fishersville, he returned to work as a dispatcher for the Fire Department. Then in 1990, when the city switched to the 911 system, he transferred to the Police Department.

Promoted to supervisor in 1992, he oversees two police and two fire and rescue dispatchers. The communications workers handle all police, fire and rescue calls.

Cisco and his wife, Nancy, have two sons, David, 13, and Brian, 9.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Veronica Tantaco Griffith, a Virginia Beach nurse practitioner, will be honored in New Orleans at the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners conference in June.

Griffith was selected as the Virginia winner of the State Award for Excellence for Nurse Practitioners. The national group selects one winner from each state.

An employee of Tidewater Health Care providing medical care to nursing home residents, Griffith was commended for her contributions to geriatrics.

Griffith, who is chair-elect of the Tidewater Council of Nurse Practitioners and conference chairperson of the annual state nurse practitioner conference, has organized the Tidewater Area Geriatric Network of Health Care Professionals with 100 members. She is also a board member of the Philippine Nurses Association of Hampton Roads.

As chair-elect of the local council, she has developed programs for the 215 members and has raised more than $20,000 in sponsorships from pharmaceutical companies.

Griffith, who has been active as an officer for the last four years, will be presented the award during the 12th annual conference in New Orleans on June 13. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

Diana Jarrett

David S. Weissman

Judy Gulledge

Gary S. Cisco

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