THE RON CLARK ACADEMY’S KIM BEARDEN INDUCTED INTO NATIONAL TEACHER’S HALL OF FAME
The Ron Clark Academy’s co-founder and executive director Kim Bearden recently received the honor of being inducted into the 2016 National Teachers Hall of Fame. This award is very deserving as Bearden has been a teacher for 28 years, having received numerous teaching recognitions that include the Disney Teacher Award and the Milken Educator Award to name a few.
Each year, the National Teachers Hall of Fame recognizes five teachers who have exhibited strong dedication to teaching our country’s children. As part of this prestigious award, Bearden will receive the following:
- Signet ring and lapel pin presented by Herff Jones, Inc.
- $1,000 in materials for their school district presented by Pearson Education
- A permanent display in the National Teachers Hall of Fame
- A cast bronze bell-tower award.
Bearden along with fellow inductees would also be flown to Washington, DC, to meet with President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr. As a teacher, Bearden strives to weave magic every day for her students, using what she calls the artistry of teaching, that which engages students and creates a love for learning. When she looks at her students, she doesn’t just see who they are. She believes in what they can become.
“For Me, Teaching Is Like The Air. It Fills Me, It Sustains Me, And It Fuels Me. It Gives Me Life,”
Kim Bearden
And her students see this in her as well.
“Mrs. Bearden Is One Of A Kind. When I See Her, She Lights Up The Entire Room. She Truly Radiates Sunshine! She Is Exactly What A Teacher Should Be. She Is An Angel On Earth To Me, And There Is Not A Day That Goes By That I Don’t Think About How Grateful I Am That I Was Put In Her Path,”
former student Ahjanae Colson.
Bearden’s colleagues also see how much being a teacher means to her. They also feel the love she radiates. “All of Kim’s accolades are impressive, but what is truly impressive is Kim’s heart. She is like a mother to every child. In fact, she is like a mother to our staff and parents. She exudes love and spreads joy to all who meet her,” said Ron Clark, who co-founded the Ron Clark Academy with Bearden.
In 2014, Bearden became a Los Angeles Times bestselling author with her book Crash Course: The Life Lessons My Students Taught Me, which chronicles the life lessons she learned throughout her award-winning career in education.
About the Ron Clark Academy
The Ron Clark Academy is a highly acclaimed, nonprofit middle school in Atlanta that promotes innovation and engages its students through energetic teaching balanced by a strict code of discipline. The Academy seeks to extend its reach beyond its student body by having an impact upon students everywhere. RCA is a demonstration school – a place where visiting educators engage in a vibrant professional development experience by observing best practices in action before participating in hands-on workshops. In the past eight years, more than 30,000 superintendents, district-level administrators, and teachers from 42 states and 22 countries have participated in the RCA Experience to learn better ways to engage students, promote academic rigor, and create a climate and culture that promotes success.
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If you would like more information or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Kirk Brown, RCA senior director of development at kbrown@ronclarkacademy.com
