Pictured, during the award ceremony, front row (l-r): Dwane Gunby, mother of recipient; Albert Gunby, grant recipient; Tim McGill, Georgia Power East region, assistant to VP; back row: John Gunby, father of recipient; Ronnie Harrison, Augusta State University; and Kevin Fletcher, VP of Georgia Power Community and Economic Development. Albert Gunby, a math teacher at Thomson Middle School, was among 35 of Georgia's best and brightest new teachers to receive a New Teacher Assistance Grant from Georgia Power. Kevin Fletcher, Georgia Power's vice president of Community and Economic Development, presented the teachers with the grants at an awards luncheon September 13 at the company's headquarters in Atlanta.

Teacher nominations were submitted to Georgia Power by the 17 Georgia public colleges and universities that have a school of education. To be eligible for the grant, candidates had to be in the top 25 percent of their class academically, be a first-year teacher employed by a public school in Georgia, and demonstrate a high aptitude for teaching.

Georgia Power began the program in 2004 as a way to encourage new teachers to stay in the profession and to provide them with much-needed funds to purchase classroom supplies, equipment or materials not provided by their schools.

A graduate of Augusta State University, Mr. Gunby can use the $1,000 grant to purchase items such as books, educational Cds or DVDs, computers or projectors, or other supplies.

The awards ceremony was attended by the recipients' school principals, superintendents of schools, deans of the College of Education, and the professors who nominated the teacher. Georgia Power's region vice presidents also attended the ceremony. (Article and photo reprinted with permission of McDuffie Mirror.)