Two Berry College graduates were among the top 10 finalists for the Georgia Teacher of the Year.
“The 10 finalists for Georgia’s next Teacher of the Year represent the very best of our state’s public education system,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “They are hardworking, innovative, skilled, and – most importantly – focused first and foremost on students. I am immensely proud of each of them and honored to recognize them as finalists.”
Ashley Anglin, a first-grade teacher at Elm Street Elementary School in Rome and Chelsea Leming, a fifth grade teacher at Indian Knoll Elementary in Cherokee County, are both Berry College graduates.
Anglin received her Bachelor of Science in psychology from Berry in 2007 and her Master of Education in early childhood education from Berry in 2012. She also received her reading endorsement from Berry in 2012.
“I tend to my students much like I tend to my flowers, celebrating their growth and individuality,” Anglin wrote on her Elm Street webpage.
Leming earned her bachelor's degree in middle grades education in 2009 from Berry.
Cherokee County Superintendent Brian V. Hightower said in a statement, “this well-earned recognition for Chelsea recognizes her as the best of our best and the best of Georgia’s best. She has earned the respect of her students, their families, her colleagues and me through dedicating herself to her profession and showing us how much she cares about teaching and building positive relationships. She is a role model for us all as to how to teach -- and to care – for our students at the highest levels.”
In order to qualify for Georgia Teacher of the Year, educators must be a certified teacher with at least three years of classroom teaching experience. The ideal candidate is respected and admired by students and teachers alike and committed to improving community relationships with students and families to create a culture of success through innovation and creativity.
For more information about the teacher education program at Berry which has produced outstanding educators, please visit: www.berry.edu/academics/majors/education/
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Written by Public Relations Student Assistant Lauren Chandler
Office of Public Relations
