Wednesday, March 31, 2004
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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 |
Fayette's Teacher of Year to be named at April 22 galaTickets are on sale for the annual “Salute to Fayette’s Finest” gala awards presentation and celebration announcing Fayette County’s 2004 Teacher of the Year. The event starts at 7 p.m. April 22 at Fayetteville First Baptist Church, 205 E. Stonewall Avenue just off the Courthouse Square, and includes a reception afterward in the church fellowship hall. Tickets are $5 each and available at any school front office. “Sunday Best” attire is requested. Three finalists in the countywide Teacher of the Year contest were announced by Superintendent John DeCotis in January. He was joined by Board of Education members and staff to drop in unannounced to the finalists’ classrooms to surprise them with the news. The three finalists for Fayette County this year are Catherine Douthard of Cleveland Elementary, Jennifer Couch of Kedron Elementary and Wynetta Scott-Simmons of Peeples Elementary. They were chosen from among 29 Teachers of the Year representing each of the county’s schools, selected in a process that started in November at the school level. Teachers must apply for the recognition, and start by outlining their standards, philosophies and best practices, said Melinda Berry-Dreisbach, school district spokeswoman. Then, an independent panel of judges including former administrators, retired teachers and the previous Teacher of the Year recepient rank the applications and select the three finalists. Each of the finalists completes another Teacher of the Year application, is observed in the classroom and goes through a series of one-on-one interviews. The winner then goes on to compete at the state level. Eventually, a national Teacher of the Year is announced. The current Teacher of the Year is Jan Daniel, who teaches social studies at Fayette County High. State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox of Peachtree City awarded the 2005 Georgia “Teacher of the Year” title to Chase Puckett, an eighth-grade English teacher at Screven County Middle School in south Georgia, March 19.
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