Memorandum from Mary Kay Murphy
Mary Kay Murphy, Ph.D. District 3  School Board Member and 2004 Chairman of the Board

November 15, 2004

   Gwinnett County Public Schools celebrated the annual Teacher of the Year Banquet and in so doing brought to our attention the vital importance of the classroom teacher to the success of public education in our community.

   Congratulations to each of the 97 teachers of the year selected by their peers in the local elementary, middle, and high schools of Gwinnett County.

   The following are those in District III selected as teachers of the year by their peers in their local school:

   At Beaver Ridge Elementary, Barbara Bass, Special Education 4 and 5; Angie Scott, Grade 5 at Berkeley Lake; Jone Cross, Reading Specialist K and 1 at Chattahoochee Elementary; Rachel Pomerance Allen, U.S. and World History, 10 and 11, at Duluth High School; Sylvia Barteaux, Gifted Social Studies, Grade 8 at Duluth Middle School; and Mary Ellen Doughty, Music at B.B. Harris Elementary;

   In addition, Sallie Barrett, Gifted Science, Grade 7 at Richard Hull Middle School. Mrs. Barrett was also one of six finalists in the competition and Middle School Teacher of the Year. Also, Shawn Grant Thomas, ESOL teacher of Grades 1 and 2 at Dr. Miles H. Mason Elementary; Clayborn Knight, Grade 3 of Norcross Elementary; and Ann Schintzius, Gifted Geometry and Advanced Placement Statistics at Norcross High School.

   Also, Sally Mote, Kindergarten at Peachtree Elementary; and Wandada Bowers, Language Arts, Grade 7 at Pinckneyville Middle School; Melissa Sutton, Grade 3 at Simpson Elementary; Janet Youngman, Kindergarten, Susan Stripling Elementary; and Aimee M. Walthall, Pre-Algebra Grade 7 at Summerour Middle School. 

   At this time of the year-when we celebrate American Education Week, Thanksgiving, and look forward to the Christmas holidays-we celebrate the importance of public education and the vital role of teachers in advancing the purposes of education to our students.

   Over more than two centuries, the purposes of public education have evolved into the following: 1) to prepare children for citizenship; 2) to cultivate a skilled workforce; 3) to teach cultural literacy; 4) to prepare students for college; 5) to help students become critical thinkers; and 6) to help students compete in a global marketplace.

   Public education-perhaps more than any other institution in society-has been affected by major changes in American culture. These include: 1) economic transformation; 2) expansion of civil rights; 3) population growth; 4) immigration; 5) inner city poverty; and 6) school violence.

   Horace Mann, 19th Century reformer who was known as the "father of public education," spoke of its importance to our nation when he said," 

   "It is a free school system. It knows no distinction of rich and poor. It throws open its doors and spreads the table of its bounty for all the children of the state.

   "Education, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the equalizer of conditions, the great balance wheel of social machinery."

   Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, spoke of public education and its importance in 1786 when he said,

   "Preach a crusade against ignorance; establish and improve the law for educating the common people."

   While public education has faced challenges over the centuries, there has been a consistent figure standing at the school door battling in the crusade against ignorance.

   That consistent figure has been the classroom teacher whose role and contribution to the success of public education we celebrate as we name our Teachers of the Year in Gwinnett County-and in District III.

   It has been the classroom teacher-more than any other-who, as Horace Mann said, "threw open the doors of public schools and spread the table of bounty for all the children of the state."

   It has been the classroom teacher who-no matter which subject he or she teaches-helps our nation achieve the goals of public education by transmitting knowledge to those who seek it.

   It has been the classroom teacher who has been the beacon of light in advancing the purposes of public education. For those of us who believe that public education is central to our democracy, we acknowledge with deep appreciation the contributions of our teachers in helping us create a nation of citizens educated in our public schools, students who participate as critical thinkers, skilled workers, and competitors in the global marketplace.

   It is to our teachers in Gwinnett County-and in District III-that we say, "Thank you, Teachers of the Year."

   Yours is a Gift that Keeps on Giving. Our community and your School Board member are indeed grateful to you and deeply in your debt.

111604

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