RADFORD – Radford University alumni Rebecca Boone ’74, Jayanne Bridges ’92 and Elizabeth Lester ’80 have been named finalists for the prestigious McGlothlin Awards for Teaching Excellence.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this spring, the awards program is sponsored by the McGlothlin Foundation of Bristol and administered by Blue Ridge Public Television. The 2009 awards will be presented in a ceremony that culminates the McGlothlin Celebration of Teaching at Radford University on April 6. The McGlothlin Celebration is a collaboration among RU’s College of Education and Human Development, Blue Ridge PBS and the McGlothlin Foundation.

The McGlothlin Awards for Teaching Excellence are among the largest teaching awards in the nation and are available only to educators in this region. Each year two award winners, one teaching in grades K-5 and one in grades 6-12, receive $25,000 each, with the stipulation that $10,000 must be used, within a year, for international travel and/or study to broaden the thinking and experience of the winning teachers and further enhance their excellence as professional educators.

Boone teaches at Troutville Elementary School, Botetourt County, Bridges at Christiansburg Middle School, Montgomery County, and Lester at Patrick Henry Elementary School, Martinsville. Other finalists are Teresa Hash, Marion Intermediate School, Smyth County; Mary Slone, South Floyd High, Floyd County, Ky.; and Erin Wigginton, Pulaski County High School. The nominees are selected from 19 semi-finalists and are judged on a standards-based lesson plan with a 20-minute video of themselves teaching the lesson in the classroom. Judges will visit classrooms to observe classroom instruction, classroom management, interaction with students, and, if possible, use of instructional technology such as computers, video, or digital cameras.

In announcing the finalists, McGlothlin Foundation president Thomas D. McGlothlin wrote, “I am so proud of the six finalists and all the wonderful teachers who have participated in the 2009 McGlothlin Awards for Teaching Excellence. Every year I’m amazed at the skills, creativity and professionalism we find among teachers across the Blue Ridge PBS region.”

With roots in Buchanan County, the McGlothlins were farmers and coal miners. The family became involved in oil, gas, real estate and financial services. The McGlothlin Foundation was created to support higher education, health care, and the arts in southwest Virginia, West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and northeast Tennessee.

Blue Ridge PBS provides instructional broadcasts, extensive online resources, special projects and professional development for more than 200,000 schoolchildren and teachers. Blue Ridge PBS includes WBRA-TV/DT in Roanoke, WSBN TV/DT in Norton and WMSY-TV/DT in Marion.