NcouragED is hosting its Annual NcouragED Educator’s Recognition Breakfast/Brunch, 11 a.m., May 10 at Martin’s Valley Mansion, 594 Cranbrook Road, Hunt Valley, MD 21030. The organization will honor 100 educators from the mid-Atlantic region by presenting them with NcouragED Educator Awards.
Dr. Skipp Sanders, former Maryland State Department of Education Deputy State Superintendent for Administration will receive the NcouragED Legacy Award. Two schools will also receive an NcouragED Excellent School Award. All honorees demonstrate NcouragED values such as excellence, productivity, affirmation of colleagues, service orientation, and community engagement. The theme of the event is “Celebrating Terrific Teachers: Determined to Teach in Tough Times.”
NcouragED is a non-partisan, non-sectarian, virtual network of educators who support each other through encouragement, camaraderie, information, and resource sharing. The mission of the organization is to help educators overcome the negative consequences of work-related stress.
The organization offers counseling referrals, free workshops, e-news, online support materials, mediation services, and much more.
“We’re building a national network of educators who recognize the value of high morale. Parents don’t want discouraged educators in front of their children all day,” says NcouragED’s executive director, Dr. Ronald C. Williams.
The research is clear. Forty-seven percent of teachers leave the profession within the first five years; the number of teachers considering leaving has risen 125 percent in recent years; the number of teachers who feel less secure in their jobs has increased over 400 percent during the same time frame; and job satisfaction among teachers is at a 25-year low. (MetLife Survey of the American Teacher)
Such statistics diminish the quality of teacher work life, the quality of education, and professional productivity.