COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

P.O. BOX 2120

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120

SUPTS. MEMO NO. 076

April 6, 2007

INFORMATIONAL

TO:	Division Superintendents
FROM:	Billy K. Cannaday, Jr. Superintendent of Public Instruction
SUBJECT:	Nominations for the 2008 Mary V. Bicouvaris Virginia Teacher of the Year Program

All public and accredited nonpublic schools are invited to participate in the 2008 Mary V. Bicouvaris Virginia Teacher of the Year Program to select the next Virginia Teacher of the Year and to honor teachers who represent the best in teaching in the Commonwealth and the nation.

For more than 40 years, Virginia has participated in the National Teacher of the Year Program, a project of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), sponsored by the ING Foundation. At its meeting on April 24, 2006, the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure (ABTEL) named the program in honor of the 1989 Virginia and National Teacher of the Year, Mary V. Bicouvaris.

The program is open to all teachers in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 who possess a current teaching license, including school librarians, guidance counselors, and reading specialists. Candidates should be dedicated, knowledgeable and skilled, and plan to continue in an active teaching status. Candidates who accept administrative or supervisory positions will relinquish their eligibility. Teachers holding provisional, special education conditional, or eligibility licenses are not eligible to participate in the program.

The application procedures and a description of the portfolio of information that each nominee must complete are attached. The application packet must be received by the Department of Education on or before Friday,

June 29, 2007. Please note that the application has been modified and abbreviated from forms used in previous years.

Participation in the Mary V. Bicouvaris Virginia Teacher of the Year Program is an activity that students, teachers, school boards, and parents in every community can share. For more information, please contact Mrs. Patty S. Pitts, assistant superintendent, Division of Teacher Education and Licensure at (804)371-2522 or e-mail: Patty.Pitts@doe.virginia.gov or Dr. Melanie J. Biermann, teacher education specialist at (804)225-2104 or e-mail:

Melanie.Biermann@doe.virginia.gov.

BKCJr/PSP/mjb

Attachment

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2007/inf076a.pdf

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2007/inf076b.pdf