Crucial Thought

I found out recently that I was selected as a Finalist for the Cable in the Classroom Leaders in Learning Awards. See the full list here.

The full text of the press release is here, and is available for download below.
For Immediate Release        Contact:
March 24, 2009      Tiffany Reedy (703) 276-2772 ext. 14
Pam Ford (202) 222-2356
Mary Anne Jacobs (803) 251-5394

Local Teacher Honored for Innovative Education Program

Christopher Craft is National Finalist for Cable’s Leaders in Learning Awards

Washington, D.C. — Christopher Craft, a teacher at CrossRoads Middle School in Columbia, is
being honored by the cable industry for his demonstrated commitment to improving education in
his community.

Time Warner Cable and Cable in the Classroom, the cable industry’s education foundation,
announced today that Craft has been chosen as a finalist for the 2009 Cable’s Leaders in
Learning Awards. The annual awards program, now in its fifth year, recognizes outstanding
educators, administrators and other community leaders at the forefront of innovation in
education.

Finalists are eligible for a national Cable’s Leaders in Learning Award, which includes a $3,000
prize, an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., and a June awards ceremony and luncheon
in honor of the winners. The winners will be announced in May.

Applications were received from across the country for the 2009 Cable’s Leaders in Learning
Awards. Craft’s is one of just 47 finalist applications selected from classroom educators,
administrators, college faculty and community leaders nationwide. Craft is being recognized in
the General Excellence category for founding “Life ’Round Here,” a global digital storytelling
project designed to record the voices of students telling stories of what life is like where they are.
Each student writes their script and then records their story. The top six stories selected are
published on a Web site for public viewing. Participating students come from classrooms all over
the world.

“In an era where 21st century learning skills are crucial to young people becoming highly
productive and responsible citizens, we are pleased to recognize individuals who have
innovatively and creatively figured out ways to move closer to this goal,” said Frank Gallagher,
director of education and media literacy at Cable in the Classroom. “Craft’s efforts are a prime
example of the sorts of educational leadership and vision the cable industry is proud to honor.”

Craft has had great success with his program. “In our world of globalization, students need to be
familiar with other cultures and people,” he said. “This project gives a voice to children around
the world.”

Mary Anne Jacobs, Senior Director, Public Relations, Communications for the Carolina Region,
said “We congratulate Craft for being named a Cable’s Leaders in Learning Award finalist. He
demonstrates a great passion and excitement in finding ways to educate and prepare young
students for the future. This sort of commitment is one that Time Warner Cable shares and
applauds.”

Winners will be chosen to receive a Cable’s Leaders in Learning Award in one of the following
categories:
- General Excellence — for leaders who have demonstrated excellence in
expanding and enhancing learning opportunities by employing a diversity of
traditional and non-traditional approaches to produce measurable improvements
in education outcomes in formal or informal settings.
-  Media Literacy Education — awarded in partnership with the National PTA to a
leader who has advanced the teaching and learning of media literacy concepts and
skills to children and youth. Media literacy is defined as the ability to access,
understand, analyze, evaluate and create media messages on television, the
Internet and other outlets.
- Cable Partnerships for Learning — for leaders who are working in partnership
with the cable industry to expand and enhance learning opportunities for children
and youth in or out of the classroom.

For more information on the awards and the 2009 finalists, please visit
www.LeadersInLearningAwards.org.

Since 2005, Cable’s Leaders in Learning Awards, administered by Cable in the Classroom, have
recognized administrators, educators and community leaders who demonstrate vision,
innovation, action and transformation in education in and out of the classroom. The objective of
the awards is to promote and encourage innovative learning practices affecting children from
preschool through high school across communities nationwide.

Cable in the Classroom, the cable industry’s education foundation, works to expand and enhance
learning for children and youth. Created in 1989 to help schools take advantage of educational
cable programming and technology, CIC has become a leading national advocate for media
literacy education and for the use of technology and media for learning, as well as a valuable
resource of educational cable content and services for policy makers, educators and industry
leaders.

www.thinkingaboutteaching.com/files/craft_christopher_press_release.pdf

http://bit.ly/zce77