INFORMATIONAL

Virginia will participate in the National Teacher of the 
Year 2000 Award Program sponsored by the Council of Chief 
State School Officers (CCSSO) and Scholastic, Inc.  The 
focus of the state and national program is to select and 
honor teachers who represent the best in teaching across 
the Commonwealth and nation.    

Regional teachers will be selected and honored as 
Virginia's teachers of the year.  The teachers will 
represent the eight superintendents' study groups, with 
one of the eight being selected as Virginia's nominee in 
the national awards program.  It is anticipated that a 
monetary award made possible through monies donated by 
businesses in the state will be presented to each of the 
regional teachers of the year.  

One individual, possessing a current Virginia teaching 
license, may be nominated from each school division.  
Teachers holding provisional licenses are not eligible to 
participate in the program.  The candidate should be a 
dedicated, knowledgeable, and skilled teacher in pre-
kindergarten through grade twelve, who is planning to 
continue in an active teaching status.  No teaching areas 
are excluded from participating.  The attached 
application packet outlines the selection criteria.  The 
names of nominees, with all materials prescribed in the 
packet, must be submitted to the Department on or before 
June 18, 1999.  

Participation in the state Teacher of the Year program is an
activity students, teachers, school boards, and parents in every 
community can share.  We hope that your school division will 
participate in this program.  Virginia's 1998 Teacher of the 
Year, B. Philip Bigler, is the current National Teacher of the 
Year.  

If you have questions about the program, please contact Byrd 
Latham at (804) 225-2104 or Diane Jay at (804) 225-2905.  

PDS/dlj

Enclosure:  A hard copy of this memo and its attach-
            ment will be sent to the superintendent's
            office.

cc:     Accredited Nonpublic Schools