HCDE and PEF Kick Off “Excellent Teachers” Campaign

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posted October 13, 2009

As part of the Public Education Foundation’s Excellent Teachers campaign, life-size cutouts of some of Hamilton County’s many excellent public school teachers will be displayed in BI-LO stores, at Unum headquarters and at Public Education Foundation offices.

“The mission of the Public Education Foundation is to improve student achievement,” said PEF President Dan Challener. “We know that strong teachers are the key to making that happen, and we work with schools closely enough to know that there are excellent teachers in every single school in this county. We are pleased to launch this campaign to celebrate those teachers and focus on building excellent teaching practices in every classroom.”

“I’m pleased that PEF is calling attention to the fact that we have outstanding teachers throughout the school system,” said School Superintendent Dr. Jim Scales. “These twenty teachers are representative of the larger teaching population; there are scores of Hamilton County teachers delivering excellent education every day.

“This campaign highlights one key element of our partnership with PEF, which is to create learning opportunities for educators to gain knowledge of excellent teaching practices. Through the partnership we create structures that allow educators to collaborate and share their best ideas with one another, positively impacting all schools and all children.”

The Excellent Teachers campaign features 20 teachers who represent the many excellent teachers in every school, every grade, and every subject in Hamilton County public schools. The heart of the campaign includes a column and a brief video podcast describing each teacher’s classroom and how that teacher works to share great ideas with other teachers. The columns are being published monthly in Chattanooga Parent magazine and columns and videos will be published on the PEF website at www.pefchattanooga.org/ExcellentTeachers.

BI-LO and Unum offered to provide high-traffic locations for the life-size photo displays, which are intended to draw viewers to the PEF website for more information on these teachers and their classroom practices.

“BI-LO has always considered itself a good corporate citizen and advocate of the communities we serve, so it was only natural that we support this public education initiative. It’s a fundamental building block for our community’s future,” said BI-LO District Director Daryl Massey.

The displays will remain in the stores through the end of October.