Teacher of the Year nominees announced
The 56 nominees to be the Muscogee County School District 2016 Teacher of the Year were announced Thursday in the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts.
Kinetic Credit Union president and CEO Janet Davis, chairwoman of the Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation, which conducts the district’s Teacher of the Year program, said in a news release, “The dedication and commitment of these outstanding teachers is the very foundation of our educational system. These teachers have made a significant impact in student learning and achievement, and we are honored to recognize them as Teacher of the Year honorees.”
Each of the district’s schools nominated a teacher to contend for the award. MEEF’s selection committee will read the applications, interview 10 semifinalists and watch three finalists teach in their classroom before announcing the winner during the foundation’s May 5 gala.
Speaking in the RiverCenter’s Legacy Hall, MCSD superintendent David Lewis told the nominees, “We tend to think about teaching as being a profession of building legacy, and that’s certainly important, and we tend to think about that in terms of student-teacher relationships, but it also is with respect to colleagues as well, that collegial professional development and so on.
“And that is exactly what makes this award so unique and special, that you are going to be able to go out and be ambassadors for your school and for our school district. I thank you in advance for that.”
MEEF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering educational excellence by helping and honoring innovative and effective teachers. In its 20-year history, the foundation has awarded educators more than $2 million through the Teacher of the Year and other programs or grants. Lewis praised MEEF for making such a positive impact.
“This organization is unique from other foundations throughout the country in that it not only recognizes teaching excellence, but it supports it, in terms of professional development opportunities through programs such as the Harvard Fellows program,” he said.
Lewis said he regularly meets with some of those fellows “to help enhance and promote more of the significant things they learned when they were at Harvard.”
The superintendent concluded his message to the nominees with this: “I just want to say how much I appreciate the work that you do each and every day. It’s hard work. It’s mission work. It’s critically important work to ensure that our community and our students grow together and enhance the opportunities available in our community as we go forward.”
Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow him on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.
IF YOU GO
What: Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation gala, where the Muscogee County School District 2016 Teacher of the Year will be announced
When: May 5; reception starts at 6 p.m.; dinner and program start at 7 p.m.
Where: Columbus Convention & Trade Center, 801 Front Ave.
Tickets: $35, on sale April 11-22 at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts box office, 900 Broadway
Info: Media, Marketing & More, 706-660-9702
2016 MCSD TEACHER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
Elementary schools
Allen: Shayna Greene
Blanchard: Andrea Toole
Brewer: Ann Wiley
Britt David: Afton Pownall
Clubview: Lee Cooper
Davis: Christie Griffin
Dawson: Dione David
Dimon: Valerie Pitts
Dorothy Height: Joy Walton
Double Churches: Eric Crouch
Downtown: Kathryn Wagers
Eagle Ridge: Angie Strother
Forrest Road: Diane Ventimiglia
Fox: Carmen Estes
Gentian: Bonnie Love
Georgetown: Mark Sanders
Hannan: Benjamin Hale
Johnson: Julie Johnson
Key: Jamie Spanner
Lonnie Jackson: Dawn Williams
Martin Luther King Jr.: Sonjia Roberts
Mathews: Sheri Isasi
Midland: Linda Sawyer
North Columbus: Gary Deloach
Reese Road: Lesley Jakovcic
Rigdon Road: Vickie Bailey
River Road: Emma Neumeister
South Columbus: Donessa Moore
St. Marys Road: Stephanie Brockman
Waddell: Susan Oyster
Wesley Heights: Audrey Ferguson-Edwards
Wynnton: Natalie Chandler
Middle schools
Aaron Cohn: Kacy Ingram
Arnold: Melissa Niemi
Baker: Pearlie Jenkins
Blackmon Road: Dorothy Johnson
Double Churches: Kathleen Bolar
East Columbus: Laura Toepfer
Eddy: Delincia Hart
Fort: Otis Lofton
Midland: Amy Mobley
Richards: Andrea Bingham
Rothschild: Brenda Curtis
Veterans: Carolyn Pharris
High schools
Carver: Stefan Lawrence
Columbus: Lisa Mills
Early College: Susan Hernandez
Hardaway: Angelia Davis
Jordan: Tony McCraine
Kendrick: Akear Mewborn
Northside: John Cobis
Shaw: Deyka Smith
Spencer: Robyn Watson
Centers
Edgewood: Patricia Horner
St. Elmo: Leigh Sadler
Woodall: Beth Badger
This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 4:29 PM with the headline "Teacher of the Year nominees announced ."