Detroit Goodfellows Names Antonia Gibson of Chrysler Elementary
First-Ever Goodfellow Teacher of the Year!
DETROIT, June 16, 2010 – The Detroit Goodfellows announced today the winner of the first-ever Goodfellow Teacher of the Year contest — Antonia Gibson, a fifth grade teacher at Chrysler Elementary, in Detroit!
Detroit Goodfellows board members surprised Gibson in her classroom with the news and presented her with a $200 gift card to buy classroom supplies. Gibson and her students were also treated to a celebratory classroom pizza party. Additionally, she will be acknowledged at the Detroit Goodfellows Annual Tribute Breakfast this fall.
The Goodfellows Board of Directors selected the winning teacher from nominations by Detroit Public School students in grades 3 through 8 who designated their favorite teachers by answering the question: “Why is your teacher so special?” in 50 words or less. There were in excess of 200 submissions and Gibson received more than 20 nominations.
In his entry, Chrysler fifth grader Gill Foster, age 11, said “My teacher, Mrs. Gibson, is the best teacher in the world to me… My teacher has done a lot of things for this class.” He credits Gibson with starting the school’s first student council, entering her class in many contests, and taking her students on field trips. “Our class has come together from a lot of rubber bands to a big rubber band ball,” Foster said. “Please pick us!”
While this was Gibson’s first year at Chrysler Elementary, she is not new to teaching. She has been a teacher for 34 years, spending 21 of them with Detroit Public Schools. Mrs. Gibson is a resident of Grosse Pointe Park.
The Detroit Goodfellows sponsored the first-ever Goodfellow Teacher of the Year contestto show its sincere appreciation and gratitude to Detroit Public School administrators, teachers and support staff who, each year, work so diligently to identify students in need of its holiday gift packages. The 96-year-old charity’s mission is to ensure that there is “No Kiddie Without a Christmas.”
Founded in 1914, the Detroit Goodfellows is the original and oldest Goodfellow organization and is not affiliated with any other Goodfellow group. It also sponsors an emergency dental program for children, awards scholarships through Wayne State University, provides free shoes to children in need and helps send hundreds of needy children to camp each summer.
For more information about the Goodfellow Teacher of the Year contest or the Detroit Goodfellow organization, please contact Sari Klok-Schneider at (586) 775-6139 or via email at sarigoodfellows@gmail.com. For more information, visit www.detroitgoodfellows.org.
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