Joy W. Jenkins, a third-grade teacher at Cleveland Elementary School and Teacher of the Year for Rowan-Salisbury Schools, recently attended a professional development seminar at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching as the 2009-2010 Phillip J. Kirk Jr. Honored Educator Scholar.
This NCCAT scholarship honors Phil Kirk, an advocate for public schools and a businessman who uses his knowledge and understanding of education issues and relationships with the state’s business community to champion education reform as the foundation of North Carolina’s well-being.
Jenkins, who participated in NCCAT’s “Stress, Health, and Learning” seminar, created a blog about her journey to becoming Teacher of the Year.
“I am certain that no one has ever been voted Teacher of the Year who knew so little about the process,” she wrote. “When I drove into the parking lot on my first day, I saw an empty parking place that was reserved for the Teacher of the Year. I didn’t know what it meant or what it entailed, but I decided at that moment that within five years, I wanted to be that person. After that moment I forgot about it. I was busy going through the beginning teacher process and signing on to become a 21st century teacher and mentor. Without realizing it, five years had passed when I heard my principal say, ‘Congratulations, Joy! You’re Cleveland Elementary’s new Teacher of the Year!’ I couldn’t believe it. Then I remembered that day in the parking lot. In five years my dream had come true.”
Each year, a teacher from Rowan-Salisbury Schools will be named the Kirk Scholar and will be invited to attend an NCCAT professional development seminar at no cost to the school or school system. The teacher also will receive $250 for use in the classroom.
Last May, when it was announced that Jenkins won the Teacher of the Year for Rowan-Salisbury Schools, she posted this on her blog: “I certainly didn’t know I would receive $250 and a scholarship to attend NCCAT this fall from the Phillip J. Kirk Scholarship Fund. In fact, when Mr. Kirk was making the announcement, I was busy telling everyone at my table that whoever got the scholarship to NCCAT was going to love it. I told everyone it was something I had always wanted to do. I told them the person who got it was really blessed! That’s when I heard him calling my name.”
NCCAT’s Honored Educator Scholarship Program gives tribute to outstanding individuals and educators by providing scholarship funds in their names. Scholarship funds can be named in honor of classroom teachers, coaches, administrators, school board members, or community volunteers ó anyone who has made a positive difference in the field of education. Donors can establish scholarships with preference for teachers from a geographic area or an academic discipline. NCCAT administers each scholarship that reaches the endowment goal of $25,000.
NCCAT impacts public education by providing professional development for North Carolina teachers throughout their careers.
NCCAT’s instructional programming is designed to give teachers the support and resources they need to be effective and enhance student achievement.
NCCAT conducts interdisciplinary, content-specific, residential seminars for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade teachers in the environmental and biological sciences, arts, humanities, mathematics, leadership and technology. For more information about NCCAT’s instructional programs, visit www.nccat.org or call 828-293-5202.