2009 Great American Teacher of the Year is Named

The Ron Clark Academy, in conjunction with Great American Financial Resources, selected its first Great American Teacher of the Year – Dr. Aimée Burgamy. Burgamy is a middle school art teacher in Lilburn, GA, who serves as the lead teacher for twenty-five middle school art teachers in Gwinnett County. She is the winner of the National Art Association's Jr. National Art Honor Society Sponsor of the Year award and was recently named as her District Teacher of the Year. Burgamy received her PhD in Art Education from University of Georgia in 2009.

The hour-long awards gala, which was broadcast LIVE to millions of viewers via public access channels and web streams, was held at the W Atlanta Midtown Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. Burgamy was one of five finalists selected by an esteemed panel of judges, who voted Friday afternoon on the winner. During her acceptance speech with some of her students by her side, Burgamy energetically expressed the importance of highly creative and effective teachers. She also encouraged those members of the audience with an interest in teaching, “to join in on the fun!”

The 2009 Great American Teacher receives a cash gift totaling $15,000 from Great American Financial Resources - $10,000 for personal use and $5,000 for his/her school, a Promethean Active classroom, a Complete Audio Enhancement System for his/her classroom, a DELL Color-Laser printer for his/her classroom and a personalized DELL Tablet PC.

Sponsors of the 2009 Great American Teacher Awards include Great American Financial Resources, Inc.; The Coca-Cola Company; Comcast Communications, Inc.; Verizon Wireless, Delta Air Lines, the preferred air line of The Ron Clark Academy; Promethean; DELL, Inc.; Audio Enhancement; Presentation Services; Associated Builders and Contractors of Georgia, Inc., Image Master Productions; and Ruth’s Chris Steak House.

Please visit www.ronclarkacademy.com to learn more about next year’s awards. To see a rebroadcast schedule of this year’s awards show, please visit the Florida Education Channel website at www.fec.tv. Comcast will also feature highlights of the program during its Red Carpet segment on CNN Headline News in early December.

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Arts Across Georgia

Georgia Aquarium Hosts Education Conference September 22-24

Education Conference for nonprofit organizations working with at-risk students
Georgia Aquarium
September 22-24, 2008

PRNewswire-USNewswire -- The Georgia Mentoring Partnership (GMP) and the Georgia Parental Information & Resource Center (GA PIRC), in partnership with Communities In Schools of Georgia, are conducting a joint conference to provide resources and help participants better serve at-risk students. The event is open to anyone who wants to learn more about mentoring, parent engagement and other dropout prevention strategies. Participants will learn how innovative ideas and techniques can help establish and maintain effective school- and community-based programs. Hot topics that are frequently in the news, with suggestions on how to manage, will also be discussed. Visit www.cisga.org for registration information.

Event topic highlights and speakers include:

Financial literacy for youth provided by the FDIC

Gang awareness, what to look for, and how to minimize it (including a separate session on the infamous most dangerous gang, MS-13 and its infiltration in the southeast)

Dr. Susan Weinberger, known nationally as "Dr Mentor"

Susan Taylor, former editor of Essence magazine and now with the National Cares Mentoring Movement

Ron Clark, founder of the Ron Clark Academy

CIS is the nation's largest dropout prevention organization. CIS partners with local school districts and community organizations to connect needed resources and services to kids and families. In Georgia, 50 CIS local affiliates and 29 Performance Learning Centers(R) provide services to nearly 135,000 students in 66 school systems. Key programs include mentoring, tutoring, parent education, literacy, after-school programs, youth leadership, and PLCs. PLCs are geared toward high school students who are not succeeding in the traditional school setting. Communities sponsoring CIS programs have seen an increase in their school graduation rates, a decrease in violence and disruptions, and an increase in attendance and academic achievement. For more information, visit HYPERLINK "http://www.cisga.org/" www.cisga.org or contact Catherine Broussard at 404-897-2955 (w) or 404-788-9044 (c).

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