Memorandum from Mary Kay Murphy
Mary Kay Murphy, Ph.D. District 3  School Board Member marykaymurphy@aol.com

November 9, 2007

Celebration of Teaching 
Excellence in District III

   Teachers in Norcross, Duluth, Peachtree Corners, and Berkeley Lake, along with faculty and principals throughout Gwinnett County, participated in the annual celebration of the selection of the Gwinnett County Public Schools Teacher of the Year. The event was held at the Gwinnett Center to a ballroom of enthusiastic principals, teachers, family members, and community supporters.

   Faculties at each school in Gwinnett County select a local school winner. A Selection Committee continues the search from among teachers at the local school level, eventually selecting one teacher to be honored each year as the County Winner. The program is in its 27th year of celebrating the accomplishments of local school and County Teachers of the Year.

   Selected as 2007 Teachers of the Year by their peers at local schools in the Norcross Cluster, the Duluth Cluster, and the two schools in the Peachtree Ridge Cluster that comprise Gwinnett County’s District III were the following:

• Beaver Ridge Elementary Martha Alanis Vazquez
• Berkeley Lake Elementary Debbie Kittinger
• Chattahoochee Elementary Valeria Jewell
• Charles Brant Chesney Elementary Sonja I. Fox
• Duluth High School Nicole Smith
• Duluth Middle School Cathy Karlick
• GIVE Center West Joseph A. Lembo
• B.B. Harris Elementary Jennifer Stover Holder
• Dr. M.H. Mason Jr. Elementary Donna M. Malcom
• Monarch School Christy Bridges Duke *
• Norcross Elementary Debbie May
• Norcross High School Casey M. Weeks *
• Peachtree Elementary Barbara Anest
• Pinckneyville Middle School Andrea Clayberg
• Simpson Elementary Rhea Oberholtzer
• Susan Stripling Elementary Bonnie H. Bishop
• Summerour Middle School Shelby A. Oates

   Christy Bridges Duke of Monarch School and Casey M. Weeks of Norcross High School were selected as semi-finalists in the Teacher of the Year program.

   As each local school Teacher of the Year was introduced, the words of John Dewey, philosopher of education, came to mind. “Education is not preparation for life,” Dewey stated. “Education is life itself.”

   Gwinnett County Superintendent and CEO J. Alvin Wilbanks noted that “Creativity, flexibility and commitment are the hallmarks of great teachers. Exceptional teachers also have high standards, embrace accountability, and use sound instructional practices.

   “As educators, you have exhibited all of these characteristics, and thereby attained a level of success not reached by many. You find joy and satisfaction in serving the children of this county, and you express it through the quality-plus instruction that you deliver in the classroom. Each day, you demonstrate how dedicated, caring, and effective teachers inspire classroom learning, and, more importantly, lifelong learning.”

   Teachers of the Year in District III demonstrate best practices in interactions with their students. They teach the Academic Knowledge and Skills curriculum on the basis of new knowledge and ways of knowing; changed styles of teacher-student interaction depending on the needs of the students; and changed methods when research indicates more effective practice.

   Their work with students is based on formation of habits of judgment and development of character; elevation of standards; facilitation of understanding; stimulation of curiosity and wonder; fostering of style and sense of beauty; and growth of a thirty for new ideas and visions of the yet unknown.

   Globalization has changed the limits and boundaries of knowledge. Teachers in Gwinnett County Public Schools are preparing students for a life of changes in jobs and careers and locations.

   They know that a high school diploma will not guarantee a job or career; postsecondary education likely will become a necessity.

   Our schools, led by our teachers, are adapting to the needs of a citizenry prepared for the future.

   Every day, our teachers make the case that public schools are the institutions best situated to teach students to think critically, evaluate information, and participate as full citizens in a democracy.

   In every classroom throughout the seventeen schools in District III, our teachers reflect the spirit of G.K. Chesterton when he said, “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” 

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