Washington, DC, January 14, 2009–-A public school teacher from California, Colorado, Connecticut or North Carolina will be selected this year as the 59th recipient of the nation’s top teaching honor—National Teacher of the Year—according to Gene Wilhoit, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The National Teacher of the Year Program, sponsored by the ING Foundation, is a project of CCSSO.
"The Council is honored to present these four national finalists as representative of the great teaching that goes on in America’s classrooms each and every day," said Wilhoit. "We at CCSSO know that the responsibility of ensuring student learning falls squarely on the shoulders of the teacher and any of these four finalists will ably carry the message of learning to the American people as the 2009 National Teacher of the Year."
Rhonda Mims, president of the ING Foundation adds, "As part of ING’s commitment to education, we’re proud to directly serve the financial needs of teachers throughout the nation, and we’re especially proud to sponsor the premier program that honors the nation’s teachers and highlights their accomplishments."
The four finalists for 2009 are listed below. The quoted italicized text includes excerpts from each of the finalists’ applications for National Teacher of the Year.
Alex Kajitani—2009 California Teacher of the Year
Kajitani is an eighth grade mathematics teacher at Mission Middle School in Escondido, California. He has taught a total of nine years and been an educator at Mission, a school of 1,021 students, for four years.
"Teaching is not just what we do; it is what we are. We are a group of dedicated, passionate professionals who enter our classrooms each morning not only to teach our students about the world as it is, but for the world as it can be. We live on a planet shaped by war, hunger, disease, and the destruction of our environment. Yet we also live in a world in which we, as educators, can invoke in our students the determination and knowledge to create peace, equity, and compassion. As educators, we are not accomplishing this alone in our classrooms, standing in front of students and desks. By being teachers, and embodying the commitment that is inherent to living and working as teachers, we are inspiring, creating, and invoking in our students the pride and confidence to make this world a better place. Above all, we are doing it together."
Susan Elliott—2009 Colorado Teacher of the Year
Elliott is a ninth through twelfth grade English and social studies teacher at Highlands Ranch High School in Highland Ranch, Colorado. She has taught for 31 years, the last six at Highlands Ranch High School which has 1,690 students.
"To meet students’ needs, teachers must seize every opportunity to continue their professional development, maximize our students' time, and cover the essentials of a guaranteed and viable curriculum. To do this we must make cross-curricular connections, use integrated technology, and protect our instructional time. We are on the front lines; we touch the future everyday in our classrooms. We must secure support from the media and policymakers at every level to create strong learning communities. Well prepared teachers are the most valuable resource we can provide young people. Teachers have the power to positively influence student achievement in schools organized for success regardless of income, background or ethnic identity."
Anthony Mullen—2009 Connecticut Teacher of the Year
Mullen is a ninth through twelfth grade special education teacher at ARCH School in Greenwich, Connecticut. He has taught at this school of 35 students for six of his seven of his years in the education profession.
"The greatest institution for social change is the school and the greatest instrument of change is the teacher. Schools are the catalyst for human progress because the dissemination of knowledge has created the world in which we live. Everything you see is the direct result of teachers spreading knowledge to vast amounts of people. The building you presently inhabit is a masterpiece of acquired knowledge: architecture, engineering, physics, chemistry, and the sum of skills and technologies taught in our schools. Your ability to read and write can be traced back to your first grade teacher and, no doubt, your professional success is equal in measure to the number of years spent in a classroom. Great societies have always valued education and understood the critical role schools and teachers play in the success or failure of its people."
Cynthia Cole Rigsbee—2009 North Carolina Teacher of the Year
Rigsbee is a sixth through eighth grade reading teacher at Gravelly Hill Middle School in Efland, North Carolina. She has been an educator at Gravelly Hill, a school of 470 students, for the past three of her 21 years serving as a teacher.
"Teachers are professionals and our citizens need to be aware of the tremendous effort and purposeful thought that go into our jobs daily. And teachers need to better understand how to market themselves and their schools. Sure, attire is important for the "look" of a professional. But what we say when we are in the grocery store and around the neighborhood pool has a great deal of impact on how the public perceives us. Any negativity must stop at the schoolhouse door and be remedied in the important collaboration that occurs in Professional Learning Communities. And as we shift the thinking of others about what we do, eventually we'll influence the thinking of legislators and others who impact education policy."
A panel of educators, representing the 15 largest national education organizations, chose the finalists from the 2009 teachers of the year representing the U.S. states, three U.S. extra-state territories, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense Education Activity, and will select the 2009 National Teacher of the Year. Recognition by President Barack Obama of the national honoree and the state representatives is tentatively scheduled to take place during the week of April 27–May 1, 2009.
The organizations represented on the National Selection Committee are: American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, American Association of School Administrators, American Federation of Teachers, Association for Childhood Education International, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Association of Teacher Educators, National Association for the Education of Young Children, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Association of State Boards of Education, National Congress of Parents and Teachers, National Education Association, National Middle Schools Association, National School Boards Association, and National School Public Relations Association.
To view the national finalists’ applications, click here. For a list of 2009 state teachers of the year, click here.
About CCSSO
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is a nationwide, nonprofit organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education in the states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions. CCSSO provides leadership, advocacy, and technical assistance on major educational issues. The Council seeks members’ consensus on major educational issues and expresses their views to civic and professional organizations, federal agencies, Congress, and the public.
About ING
ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, investments, life insurance and retirement services to over 85 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 50 countries. With a diverse workforce of over 130,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand.
In the U.S., the ING (NYSE: ING) family of companies offer a comprehensive array of financial services to retail and institutional clients, which includes life insurance, retirement plans, mutual funds, managed accounts, alternative investments, direct banking, institutional investment management, annuities, employee benefits, financial planning, and reinsurance. ING holds top-tier rankings in key U.S. markets and serves over 17 million customers across the nation.
For more information, visit www.ing.com.
About the ING Foundation
The ING Foundation's mission is to improve the quality of life in the communities where ING operates and its employees and customers live. Through charitable giving and employee volunteerism, the foundation focuses on sustainable programs in the areas of financial literacy, children's education and diversity.
For more information, visit www.ing-usafoundation.com.
