CULLOWHEE — Janice Raper of Salisbury has been named the Phillip J. Kirk Jr. Honored Educator Scholar for 2007–08 at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching. The announcement was made during the January 28 meeting of the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education.
Raper will be eligible to attend a five-day seminar of her choice this year at NCCAT and will receive $250 for her use in the classroom with her students. A teacher at Hurley Elementary School, she is the Teacher of the Year for the Northwest Region, representing Ashe, Alexander, Alleghany, Avery, Burke, Catawba, Davie, Iredell, Rowan, Surry, Watauga, Wilkes and Yadkin Counties. She has served most of her 30-year career in the Rowan-Salisbury School System.
The Phillip J. Kirk Jr. Honored Educator Scholarship at NCCAT is named for one of North Carolina's leading advocates for public education. The scholarship fund was endowed in 2007 after contributions from Kirk's friends and admirers exceeded the $25,000 endowment level. A Rowan County native, Kirk is vice president of external relations at Catawba College. He served for more than five years as chairman of the North Carolina State Board of Education and for 16 years was president and chief executive officer of North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry.
Raper and her husband Ron were in Kirk's English class at Salisbury High School when he was a student teacher there. "They are both outstanding educators who have made so many positive contributions to our school system and to literally thousands of students over the years," Kirk said.
NCCAT, a center of the multi-campus University of North Carolina system, was created by the state legislature in 1985 to advance the art and profession of teaching in North Carolina. The center's main focus is a year-round series of residential seminars for pre-kindergarten through twelfth-grade teachers. The seminars, usually five days in duration, provide opportunities for research, intellectual and creative pursuits and professional networking. All costs are paid by the state.
The Honored Educator Scholarship Program of the Development Foundation of NCCAT Inc. provides students, friends, families, and organizations with the opportunity to recognize great educators by establishing NCCAT scholarships in their names. Funds from these scholarships supplement the center's state budget allocation, making it possible to serve more teachers and to enrich NCCAT programming.
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