The University of North Florida College of Education and Human Services presented the 2020 Gladys Prior Awards for Career Teaching Excellence to four Jacksonville teachers on April 15 via a Zoom videoconference.
The 2020 winners are Pamela Adams, Crown Point Elementary School; Mary Mickle, Waterleaf Elementary School; Edward Moore, Tiger Academy; and Jill Sullivan, Mayport Coastal Middle School.
Each is awarded $15,000, one of the largest monetary awards for teachers in the nation, according to a UNF news release.
Adams is a fifth-grade math and science teacher who has spent her 16-year teaching career at Crown Point Elementary School. She creates lesson plans for the English for Speakers of Other Languages program, gifted students and students with varying learning abilities.
She also volunteers at parent/teacher and Title 1 events and serves as the school’s lead TV production club sponsor.
Mickle has been a teacher for 29 years, the past 22 years with Duval County Public Schools as an elementary school music teacher.
At Waterleaf Elementary School, Mickle leads the honor chorus, recorder club and is music director for the school play. She also mentors UNF interns and teaches adults.
Moore is a fifth-grade English language arts teacher at Tiger Academy.
He serves as a mentor for teacher candidates and is a founding member of Brothers Accountable Driven and Determined.
Sullivan has been a teacher at Mayport Coastal Sciences Middle School for the past 11 years.
She is the science department chair and lead coastal science teacher. Sullivan leads her students out of the classroom for research and projects, including walks to Sherman’s Creek to study water quality or maintaining the schools aquariums.
Gilchrist Berg, founder and president of Water Street Capital, established the Gladys Prior Awards for Career Teaching Excellence in 1988 to honor teachers with lifelong careers in education who inspire students.
The award is named after Gladys Prior, Berg’s fourth-grade teacher at Ortega Elementary School. To date, Berg has given more than $2 million to honor Jacksonville teachers.