The McGlothlin Celebration of Teaching

The McGlothlin Celebration of Teaching and McGlothlin Awards project are underwritten by The McGlothlin Foundation of Bristol, Virginia. The McGlothlin Awards for Teaching Excellence are administered by Blue Ridge PBS. Radford University is a partner in presenting the McGlothlin Celebration of Teaching and the McGlothlin Awards ceremony.

Beginning in a farmhouse nestled in the mountains of Buchanan County, Virginia, the McGlothlin family was sustained in their early years through farming and coal mining. As their success grew, the family business became involved in oil, gas, real estate and financial services. The McGlothlin Foundation was created in 1998 to support worthy causes in higher education, health care and the arts in southwestern Virginia, West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and northeast Tennessee.

For each of the past nine years the McGlothlin Foundation has recognized two of the region’s teachers -- one in grades K-5 and one in grades 6-12 -- with the McGlothlin Awards for Teaching Excellence. Each winner is awarded $25,000, 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. According to Thomas D. McGlothlin, president of the McGlothlin Foundation, "The McGlothlin Foundation wishes to inspire the award recipients so that they can breathe new life into their classrooms, their peers, and indeed the entire school."

Blue Ridge PBS, founded in 1967, is the sole public multimedia enterprise serving 2.5 million individuals in portions of five states. The station's 26,000 square-mile coverage area includes southwestern Virginia and bordering counties in Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and North Carolina. As the region's storyteller, Blue Ridge PBS offers outstanding informational, educational and cultural programming, along with an award-winning local production team devoted to regional issues and interests. Further, over 200,000 schoolchildren and their teachers benefit from the station's education services that provide a safe, trusted environment for innovative on-air and online learning. Blue Ridge PBS is comprised of WBRA-TV/DT in Roanoke, WSBN-TV/DT in Norton, and WMSY-TV/DT in Marion, Virginia.

Blue Ridge PBS has administered the McGlothlin Awards since 1999. The station serves the region's classrooms by providing instructional broadcasts, extensive online resources, special projects and professional development for teachers.

Radford University is recognized as a Top 20 Public Master's University in the South by U.S. News & World Report and a 2009 "Best College in the Southeast" by Princeton Review. Located in the heart of scenic Southwest Virginia, RU features a student body of approximately 9,200, nationally recognized faculty-student collaborations and a dynamic curriculum of more than 140 undergraduate and graduate programs. In the last year alone, RU has opened a state-of-the-art visual and performing arts center and welcomed three new graduate programs: doctoral degrees in nursing practice and physical therapy and a master’s degree in occupational therapy. Outside the classroom, RU supports a culturally diverse student population through a wealth of co-curricular activities and events, outstanding NCAA Division I athletics, a commitment to environmental sustainability and a beautiful campus set alongside the New River near the Appalachian Trail and Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Radford University College of Education and Human Development offers 27 undergraduate and graduate programs in the School of Teacher Education and Leadership, the Department of Exercise, Sport and Health Education, and the Department of Counselor Education and Human Development. Carrying forth the tradition on which the university was founded, this nationally accredited college prepares students for lives of service as educators, counselors and health specialists who bring insight, dedication and compassion to their work in helping people and communities thrive.