The annual award recognizes one institution that has made "singularly significant contributions to the theory and practice of teacher education."

Presented by the Society of Professors of Education (SPE), the oldest professional organization for teacher educators in the United States, the award is named for Richard Wisniewski, past president and treasurer of the Society of Professors of Education, past president of American Association of Colleges of Teacher Association and former Dean of Education at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Wisniewski worked to elevate teacher education and improve its rigor and responsiveness to a changing school landscape.

Dean of Education Linda Irwin-Devitis and nine faculty members traveled to New York to receive the award March 27 during the annual AERA (American Educational Research Association) conference. The award was presented by SPE President Donna Breault of Georgia State University.

“The John H. Lounsbury School of Education is honored to receive this award for our Architects of Change Model of educator preparation,” said Irwin-DeVitis. “The hard work and dedication of so many faculty and teacher candidates at Georgia College shaped the program.”

Former dean, Janet Fields was instrumental in beginning the model in which a group of 18-20 teacher candidates are heavily immersed in real classrooms as they take their courses. A university faculty member leads each group for their entire professional education program and helps shape the group into a professional learning community, modeling the kinds of interactions that characterize effective P-12 classrooms. This immersion into real schools, partnership with P-12 partners, and rigorous coursework and reflection is the hallmark of the Georgia College model of educator preparation.

“The John H. Lounsbury School of Education prepares students to address the achievement gap and the changing needs of today’s students. Our graduates are making a difference. A teacher who graduates from Georgia College is twice as likely as the average graduate to remain in teaching after five years,” said Irwin-DeVitis. “91% of our graduates are still teaching 3 to 8 years after graduation.”

Current and former students have been recognized as teachers of the year in their schools, districts and the state.
• Sallie Peters, a special education student, was named national graduate of the year in 2007 by the Council for Exceptional Children. The Georgia College Collegiate Middle Level Assocation was named host for the 2009 Conference and the site and are the officers for the national organization.
• Stephanie Shelton, a 2005 graduate in secondary education, is a finalist for Georgia’s Teacher of the Year in her third year of teaching. The Early Childhood students at Georgia College are the founders of the first college student affiliate of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Georgia College will celebrate the Award and two, newly endowed scholarships 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday in the University Banquet Room.

“The Emily Myrtice Lynch Endowed Scholarship and The Mary Rose Turner Baugh Bacon Scholarship will provide deserving young people an opportunity to obtain their teaching degree from Georgia College and return to their local communities to teach,” Irwin-Devitis said. It is fitting that these two dynamic educators chose to endow scholarships for outstanding students and to support the Georgia College tradition of excellence in teacher education by providing support to future “architects of change.”

The Emily Myrtice Lynch Endowed Scholarship

Emily Myrtice Lynch spent her life teaching math. She began teaching in Lincoln County and retired as the math coordinator for Atlanta School System.

In 1930 she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Liberal Studies before receiving a Masters Degree in Mathematics from Columbia University in New York City.
During her teaching career she received a one-year Ford Foundation Grant that allowed her to study math as it was being taught in schools around the world. During this time, she traveled to schools and learned how they taught math to their students.

Lynch was 97 when she passed away April 13, 2007.

The Emily Myrtice Lynch Endowed Scholarship will give preferential consideration to graduates of public school systems in Jasper and Putnam counties who need financial assistance to attend college.

The Mary Rose Turner Baugh Bacon Scholarship

Dr. Mary Rose Baugh Bacon was known for her distinguished career as an educator at Georgia College & State University where she retired as professor emeritus in 1996 after 27 years of teaching. She served as a professor and coordinator of graduate programs in the education department.

She also is known for founding and pioneering a freshmen development course that spread across the nation and for her role in childhood teacher education throughout the state.
Bacon was 71 when she passed away July 25, 2007.

The Mary Rose Turner Baugh Bacon Scholarship will provide scholarships for students who have been out of high school for at least five (5) years and are undergraduate or graduate students who are declared education majors. A GPA of 3.0 must be maintained while receiving this scholarship.