We end the week with still more good news from the district, and again from SRT-4, as we learn that Sarah Smith Elementary Principal Dr. Sidney Baker was one of one four educators honored with the 2010 Great Books Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award committee noted Dr. Baker’s enthusiastic support of Great Books programs along with “his commitment to creating a community of teacher and student learners in his school.” Dr. Baker will join other honorees as well as 12 recipients of the 2010 Great Books Great Teachers award during a celebration April 30 in Chicago. During their trip, the honorees also will be special guests at Great Books Chicago 2010, an event for Great Books fans that includes the chance to catch various cultural activities.
“I’m honored to represent Sarah Smith Elementary and Atlanta Public Schools at this event,” Dr. Baker said. “The teachers of Sarah Smith have embraced the Junior Great Books program and students of Sarah Smith in kindergarten through fifth grade are learning lifelong skills, which help them become stronger readers through a strong relationship with text. Junior Great Books promotes deeper international understanding through the Shared Inquiry discussion model. Being an International Baccalaureate World School, this approach into inquiry-based learning strengthens the delivery of instruction in all classrooms.”
(For more on Baker and Great Books, check out this feature here.)
The folks at the Great Books foundation were excited about this group of honorees. “The Great Books Foundation is thrilled to recognize these star educators who are lifelong learners and who are so committed to innovative teaching strategies that raise student achievement,” said Mary Kent Sweeton, Great Books Foundation vice-president. “All of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipients relentlessly expose their students to quality literature and encourage them to become stronger readers and learners. By shining the spotlight on these outstanding role models, we hope to make it easier for educators around the country to learn from their best practices.”
Since 2000, the Great Books Foundation has been honoring outstanding teachers who are successfully increasing their students’ achievements by putting Great Books programs and the Shared Inquiry™ discussion model into practice. This year’s winners represent a diverse group of learning environments including elementary schools, high schools, inner-city schools, private schools as well as special needs and gifted programs.
