FWISD ANNOUNCES 2008-2009 CHAIRS FOR TEACHING EXCELLENCE

Fort Worth, Texas – Fifteen FWISD teachers have been chosen as the 2008-2009 Academic Chairs for Teaching Excellence. The selected teachers will be conferred with the title of Chair for Teaching Excellence for one year and receive a $5,000 honorarium.

The Chairs for Teaching Excellence program was established in the Fort Worth ISD in 1994. It is modeled after the university-level Chair program and is designed to recognize and reward exemplary teachers. This program is unique because of its role in a public secondary school setting and for its rigorous selection process.

Teachers may be nominated by parents, principals or colleagues but each nominee must complete a lengthy application and collect written recommendations. If selected for further consideration, the teacher will be interviewed and then must present a teaching demonstration to the selection committee. There are separate selection committees for each Chair.

Many more teachers apply for this honor than are selected. Since its inception, generous sponsors have awarded more than $600,000 to teachers. Teachers selected as Chairs are encouraged to pursue further education and training and to share their knowledge and expertise with colleagues. 

Two new sponsors are supporting this effort for the first time this year. Sewell Lexus of Fort Worth is underwriting the Chair for Teaching Excellence in Humanities. Zelma and J.T. Luther, Jr., are underwriting the Chair for Teaching Excellence in Library Information Science.

Teachers will be honored December 11, 2008 at a 12:00 noon luncheon at the Fort Worth Club. A list of honorees, their citation and the related sponsor are included with this release.

>> View mini bios and photos of all the 2008-2009 Teaching Chairs.