During its 2021-2022 biannual meeting, the Georgia Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, presented nine educators with Georgia Outstanding Mentor Awards.
Cindy Oliver, a teacher at Southeast Bulloch Middle School, was one of the nine teachers who was recognized for exceptional work as a mentor to future teachers.
“I am thrilled to be chosen as an Outstanding Mentor Teacher for our region,” said Oliver. “As a longtime educator, it is vitally important for me to be a supportive mentor to colleagues, especially the new teachers to the profession. A mentoring relationship begins before teachers ever step foot into the classroom – making contact and establishing the relationship upon hiring, and walking those teachers through the induction phase with coaching, mentoring, and support with not only instructional strategies, but classroom and behavior management skills as well.”
The Association’s nine regional collaboratives each selected a teacher, who in addition to fulfilling their roles to teach children, models, instructs, encourages, and invests time in the development of future teachers to ultimately improve the educational outcomes of children. Oliver was selected by the Southeast District P-20 Regional Collaborative.
Oliver stated that being a clinical supervisor for Georgia Southern University’s College of Education has given her a platform to work with pre-service teachers and help develop their skills of excellence through the teacher education program.
“At the end of my tenure as an educator, I hope to be known for having a commitment to high expectations and high quality instruction,” Oliver said. “By modeling these attributes for other teachers, I will have helped maintain the level of excellence in educators which will have a direct impact on the students of Bulloch County.”
The award is also co-sponsored by the Georgia Association of Educators, the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders, and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators.
