Local Therrell High Math Teacher is a Finalist for Georgia's Teacher of the Year Award

Tamika Nicole Ball has already received the award for APS Teacher of the Year for her work with 9th and 10th grade math students at Therrell High School in southwest Atlanta, but the big prize may come in May of 2013 when she might win the Teacher of the Year award for the entire state of Georgia.

According to previous reporting by APS via their TalkUp APS blog, "Ms. Ball has already achieved the huge accomplishment of being named the 2012-2013 D. M. Therrell High School Teacher of the Year as well as the 2012-2013 Atlanta Public Schools’ Teacher of the Year."

Come May 2013, we will find out if Tamika Ball will be awarded the coveted 2012-2013 Georgia Teacher of the Year award.  Over the next few weeks, APS says that, "Tamika will prepare for the next level of the competition which includes submitting a video tape of her classroom instruction and participating in various interviews."  

Ms. Tamika Ball is a graduate of Frederick Douglass High School and received her BS degree at N. Carolina A&T.  Her first teaching experience began as a 2007 Teach for America (TFA) Corp member, says TalkUp APS. Amazingly, the award-winning teacher is currently pursuing a PhD in Teaching and Learning, Mathematics from Georgia State University. 

Mr. Erroll Davis, Superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools said that he was, "very proud of Ms. Ball,” and told the APS blog that, “her passion and commitment are representative of every excellent educator in our school district who positively impacts the lives of students each day in our classrooms.”

The winner will be announced at the Georgia Teacher of the Year Banquet on May 3, 2013.  The finalists were selected by the strength of their essay submissions. 

In the attached video you can see how this APS teacher of the year illustrates to students her belief that numbers are more, "than a variable, more than a coefficient. It's about how can that number change things."