Advancing Educator Excellence
in Atlanta Public Schools

School: Sarah Smith Elementary School
Project: "Interactive Whiteboards"
Dr. Baker believed his project, which used interactive technology, would enhance the learning environment, augment teachers' instructional methods and provide technology experiences while increasing student achievement.

School: Parkside Elementary School
Project: "Enhancing Learning Via the Use of iPods in the Classroom"
Her project placed new and exciting instruction delivery in math, reading, history and science classrooms, supporting research which showed employing technology can also increase student self-esteem through the opportunity to learn in a variety of engaging and motivating ways.

School: Alonzo F. Herndon Elementary, Fourth-Grade
Project: "Kidpreneurship"—Component to "Young Men of Honor"
She planned on taking her Young Men of Honor to a Kidpreneurship Conference in Florida to learn about entrepreneurship.

School: Sarah Smith Elementary School, First-Grade
Project: "DVD First-Grade Documentary for Each Student"
Focused on educating the whole child, she believed her project to create a DVD documentary for each student would improve test scores. By creating expectations for students to improve written work, express ideas, internalize objectives and showcase their strengths, their self-esteem will improve.

School: Venetian Hills Elementary School, Fifth-Grade
Project: "Can a Radius Expand"—"Scholars Experience Georgia Role Models"
Producing student writers who emerge as flourishing authors was a goal of his project, where students would read and write about historical figures. He took his students to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, the Carter Center and Morehouse College to learn about three important Georgia role models.

School: William M. Finch Elementary School, Third-Grade
Project: "Higher-Order Thinking Skills and Activities Book Club and Reading Room"
She believed her "Book Club/Reading Room" project would make a direct and substantial impact on student achievement. Using various teaching methods to meet individual student needs, she employed project-based assessments, and school-wide benchmarks to help students excel.

School: Thomasville Heights Elementary School, First through Fifth Grade
Project: "Webfolios"
Believing that a child's self-esteem directly impacts student achievement, his project supported Thomasville Heights' fifth-graders' journey to middle school and their next levels of learning. Students created "webfolios," which are portfolios of each student's accomplishments based on the principles of creativity, collaboration, cooperation and celebration.

School: East Lake Elementary School, Second-Grade
Project: "Student-Led Playground Equipment"
In alignment with the school district's initiative to improve the health and wellness of its students, she believed her project to install playground equipment would increase physical activity. Research shows increased physical activity can improve academic achievement.

School: Carver Early College High School, Ninth and Tenth Grade
Project: "Organizational Advocacy/Campaign Development"
Her project to organize an advocacy campaign provided the framework for students to strengthen their research, public speaking, writing, teamwork and leadership skills. Additionally, students had the opportunity to make a positive impact on their communities by recognizing and embracing their rights as U.S. citizens.

School: Capitol View Elementary School, Special Education
Project: "Supplemental Computer Software for School Computer Lab"
She and her colleagues believed the integration of high quality educational software applications into the school inventory such as "Jump Start," "learning Shortcuts," and others would benefit all Capitol View students.

School: B. S. Carson honors Preparatory Middle School, Sixth-Grade
Project: "Interactive Whiteboard for Mathematics Classroom"
She believed her project to embrace and utilize whiteboards in her math classes would be beneficial to her students by allowing them to take ownership of the concepts studied. "Students feel like citizens instead of visitors, which creates a positive classroom environment and culture for achievement."

School: M. A. Jones Elementary School, K-5 Art Teacher
Project: "Initiate a System-wide Arts Education Fair"
His project to initiate an Arts Education Fair for APS started at Jones Elementary School. "Building self-esteem is a full time job" and he believed his project would help students lay claim to their own self-image and individual value, enabling them to meet challenges and enact change. He most recently has been accepted to the Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP).