Two Tucson teachers are up for the 2015-2016 national LifeChanger of the Year award.
Sponsored by the National Life Group Foundation, the LifeChanger of the Year program recognizes and rewards the best K-12 public and private school educators and employees across the United States who are making a difference in the lives of students by exemplifying excellence, positive influence and leadership.
Abbigail McCracken, seventh-grade language arts teacher at Gridley Middle School, and Charlie VanDusen, third-grade teacher at Lynn/Urquides Elementary School, were nominated by community member Melissa Blumenthal.
Sixteen winners will be selected from across the country in the spring to receive cash awards that are split between the individual winners and their schools.
The national Grand Prize award is $10,000. The top five winners will also be honored at a national awards ceremony.
Nominations will continue to be accepted through Jan. 15 at www.LifeChangeroftheYear.com
State to keep Tucson office for teacher certification
The Arizona Department of Education’s Tucson certification office will remain open to service Southern Arizona educators.
The downtown office, 400 W. Congress St., room 223, was scheduled to close at the end of 2015 but will remain open as part of Arizona schools chief Diane Douglas’ plan to enhance services to rural communities.
“My goal as superintendent is to increase the support our department is providing to educators in all parts of our state, so it made no sense to me that we would stop providing critical certification services to educators in Southern Arizona communities,” Douglas said in a news release. “Our more rural areas already have unique challenges, so doing something to help simplify the educator certification process for them was an easy decision.”
The certification office will be open Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting Jan. 6 and will increase service times to two days a week starting in May through the summer.
Academy of Tucson plans open houses at 3 campuses
The Academy of Tucson Schools will host open houses at all three campuses on Jan. 5.
The events for prospective families are from 4 to 6 p.m. at the following locations:
- The Academy of Tucson Elementary School, 9209 E. Wrights-town Road, for grades K-4.
- The Academy of Tucson Middle School, 7310 E. 22nd St., for grades 5-8.
- The Academy of Tucson High School, 10720 E. 22nd St., for grades 9-12
