Distinguished Mat-Su educator achieves national recognition for excellence in teaching

Bob Williams, Alaska’s 2009 Teacher of the Year, has been recognized with the Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence.  The award includes a $10,000 stipend.  Williams teaches math at Colony High.

Mat-Su EA member Bob Williams, third from left, and NEA-Alaska President Barb Angaiak, to his right, pause a moment on stage for photos.  Also in the photo are, from left, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, Horace Mann Companies President Lou Lower, and to Angaiak’s right, NEA Foundation Board Chair Lauri Fitz-Pegado and NEA Foundation President and CEO Harriet Sanford.

The award was presented on April 30 at the NEA Foundation's Salute to Excellence in Education Gala in Washington, DC. At this annual celebration of the men and women who work in America's public schools, the NEA Foundation presented more than 40 awards to exceptional educators and dedicated supporters.

Williams was one of only five finalists across the national selected to receive the prestigious awards.  Utah teacher Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh received the top honor, the $25,000 NEA Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence. "These educators were nominated by their peers because they attained the highest standards of the profession," said Harriet Sanford, President and CEO of the NEA Foundation. "Honoring them is our way to thank them for their excellent work."

In addition to the outstanding educators, the NEA Foundation presented children’s educational TV program Nickelodeon with The NEA Foundation Award for Philanthropy in Public Education for its commitment to children and to education. 

The NEA Foundation also presented Dr. Jane Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN messenger of Peace, with its Award for Outstanding Service to Public Education.  She was recognized for her lifelong achievements in chimpanzee behavioral research and community-centered conservation in Africa, as well as for her international environmental and humanitarian youth program, Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots.

The NEA Foundation is an independent public charity created in 1969 and sustained by contributions from educators, corporate sponsors, and other supporters of public education.  The Foundation offers grants and programs that support educators' efforts to close the achievement gaps, increase classroom innovations, provide professional development, and salute excellence in education. Visit neafoundation.org for more information.