TMCnet News
Bibb teacher tops in GeorgiaATLANTA, May 07, 2011 (The Macon Telegraph - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Bibb County English teacher Jadun McCarthy is Georgia's 2012 Teacher of the Year, selected from among 154 teachers across the state eligible for the title. The Georgia Department of Education made the announcement at a banquet at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. McCarthy and Houston County's Beth Sciarro were among the top 10 finalists vying for the state Teacher of the Year title. "Children don't deserve OK teachers, or adequate teachers, or just-get-by teachers," McCarthy, a teacher at Northeast High School, said to about 540 people at the event shortly after the announcement was made. "Every single child deserves great teachers. It's tremendously humbling to represent those great teachers in the state of Georgia," he said. McCarthy also thanked family, administrators and others. Among those he thanked was Bibb County Board of Education member Ella Carter, who was McCarthy's principal at Jones Elementary School in Bibb County. Carter invited McCarthy to teach at Northeast while she was principal there. Carter's encouragement helped "a little boy who was lost and confused and angry and helped turn him into something positive," he said. McCarthy will go on to serve as an ambassador and advocate for the teaching profession during the 2011-12 school year. He is also eligible to become National Teacher of the Year. McCarthy became a teacher at his alma mater six years ago, forgoing a legal career to make a difference in the classroom. In his third year of law school at the University of Georgia, McCarthy realized that he wanted to make a difference in young people's lives before they got caught up in the legal system, not after. In addition to teaching English, McCarthy is also Academic Bowl Team head coach and adviser for juniors and seniors at Northeast, among other activities. "I love to see the look in a child's eye when they learn something they never though they could," McCarthy said in a video before the announcement was made. Sciarro is an early intervention reading teacher at Northside Elementary School and has been in the classroom for more than 40 years. The 10 finalists for the state Teacher of the Year title were previously interviewed by a panel of judges, submitted a video evaluation and gave a speech at an April 1 luncheon. McCarthy is Bibb County's second teacher to hold the statewide recognition, along with the 1975 Georgia Teacher of the Year Betty Lewis Phillips. To contact writer Andrea Castillo, call 256-9751. To see more of The Macon Telegraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.macon.com Copyright (c) 2011, The Macon Telegraph, Ga. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |