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Twelfth Annual Teachers of Promise Institute Set to Honor Virginia’s Finest Prospective Educators
The event will be held on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21, 2015 at Virginia Commonwealth University.
March 02, 2015
The Teachers of Promise Institute, created by a group of practicing Virginia public school educators in 2001 and inspired by the Milken Educator Awards, elevates the teaching profession to the status it deserves and activates its participants to make significant impact in public schools across the Commonwealth.
The twelfth annual event will be held on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21, 2015 at Virginia Commonwealth University.
The Teachers of Promise Institute invites each of Virginia’s college and university Schools of Education to identify its best and brightest future educators, who are honored as Teachers of Promise. Wade Whitehead (VA '00) established the Teachers of Promise Foundation (which funds the Teachers of Promise Institute and whose Directors also includes Dr. Joshua Cole (VA '06), Senior Vice President of the Milken Educator Awards Dr. Jane Foley (IN '94), and Alex Carter (VA '03)) and serves as Executive Director of the Institute. Veteran Milken Educators Stephanie E. Bishop (VA '01) and Laura Marshall (VA '08) dedicate time year-round as co-directors of this extraordinary event.
This year, 97 students from 19 colleges and universities comprise the newest Teachers of Promise class. Honorees maintain high academic standards, intend to pursue public school teaching as a career option, and demonstrate highest potential for success in the classroom. To date, the Teachers of Promise Institute has honored nearly 2,000 prospective teachers from three dozen institutions, with more than $500,000 raised and spent on the effort.
The Teachers of Promise Institute begins with a gala celebration, during which attendees are presented with gold lapel pins recognizing their potential as prospective teachers (click here for the schedule). Each honoree also receives a hand-written note from a Virginia student, which congratulates them and thanks them for choosing to enter the teaching profession. This year, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Steve Staples,
Virginia Lottery Executive Director Paula Otto, and 1993 National Teacher of the Year Tracey Bailey will be on hand to congratulate honorees, as will former State Superintendent Dr. Jo Lynne DeMary, who will serve as keynote speaker for the evening. On Saturday, honorees attend a conference-style series of general and concurrent workshop sessions and keynotes designed and presented by a team of more than thirty award-winning master educators from across the United States.
The Institute is funded by The Teachers of Promise Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization based in Roanoke. Wade Whitehead, a fifth grade teacher at Crystal Spring Elementary School in Roanoke City, established the Foundation and serves as President of its Board of Directors. Supporters of the Institute include Virginia Professional Educators, the Virginia Lottery, Virginia Commonwealth University, eighteen additional Virginia colleges and universities, and a number of individual donors.
“The Teachers of Promise Foundation and our many supporters hold great hope for the future of public school classrooms in Virginia,” said Whitehead, a fourth-generation Virginia public school teacher. “The number one school-controlled variable in student learning is teacher quality. Our mission is to recognize and galvanize world-class teaching by finding and recognizing the best prospective teachers in Virginia and beyond. Public schools are the last bastion of democracy in America, and our future depends on the teachers that will call them home. The solution to our challenges - and the only reform that will truly make a difference for our students - is no secret. It simply requires us to attract, develop, and retain human capital that will drive creative, student-centered instruction and interaction in future classrooms.”
For additional information, press credentials, or interview requests, please contact Wade Whitehead at wade@teachersofpromise.com or (540) 354-0464. To follow on Twitter, use #TOPInstitute.