“Communities celebrate that which they value,” stated Dr. Harrison, Superintendent for Alamance-Burlington School System. So, we – the Chamber, along with the business community – did just that by celebrating our local educators last Tuesday, May 8, at the Excellence in Education Awards Program.
The total community investment in this year’s awards program was nearly $50,000, which speaks volumes to just how much we value our educators. From corporate sponsors to small businesses donating gift cards to the Teacher of the Year awards package, our community rallied together to show their appreciation for the educators of Alamance County (on National Teacher Appreciation Day, no less).
The awards package for the Alamance-Burlington Teacher of the Year some would argue is better than the awards package for the North Carolina Teacher of the Year. The awards package includes a professional development opportunity to a national conference of their choice, a trip to Mexico through Go Global NC with other Teachers of the Year across the state, $3,000 in cash awards and various gift cards. This is significant and something our community should be proud of.
We should also be proud to have had 3 local Teachers of the Year named Piedmont Triad Region Teacher of the Year (Tyronna Hooker, Kevin Scharen, and Freebird McKinney), as well as 1 finalist in the regional competition (Deanna Foust-Platt), and 2 honored as North Carolina Teacher of the Year (Tyronna Hooker and Freebird McKinney) just within the last 7 years.
We recognize that the classroom educator is at the heart of student success, and that student success is imperative if we wish to have a robust workforce, and in turn a viable economy. This is why the Chamber has such a rich history of business/education partnerships and will continue to support excellence in education.
Congratulations to Tiffany Helton, History, Economics and Psychology Teacher at Eastern Alamance High School, for being named the 2018 Alamance-Burlington Teacher of the Year! To learn more about Tiffany and the other finalists in this year’s Excellence in Education Awards Program, visit our YouTube channel for a glimpse into their classrooms.