Gail Godwin is quiet and unassuming, many who know her say, but the third-grade teacher at Brookwood School has a passion for her students that has won their hearts and drawn numerous awards.
On Friday, she was honored as the Dalton Education Foundation’s Tom Jones Educator of the Year during a Dalton Public Schools district assembly. The foundation is a private organization that raises funds to supplement the school district. Every year, it recognizes a top educator with $3,000 and a traditional crystal apple award. The teacher’s school also receives 1,000 in the belief that the person’s colleagues help each other become better educators.
“I was just in total shock,” Godwin said when asked what she was thinking as her name was announced at the Wink Theatre Friday afternoon. “They can keep a secret. I had no idea — my grandchildren didn’t even tell me.”
Eight of Godwin’s family members — including a sister who lives in Haralson County and her granddaughters Maddie and Ella Hildebrand, ages 8 and 6 — surrounded her on the lighted stage, some of them crying as she cradled a bouquet of peach-colored roses.
She received teacher of the year awards in 1982, 1986 and 1993 while she was working at other school districts. In 2009, she was named Brookwood’s teacher of the year in the Dalton Public Schools district awards, and she also appeared in “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.” She is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Kappa Delta Phi teacher sororities.
Brookwood Principal Will Esters said there’s something special about going into Godwin’s classroom.
“It’s just a feeling,” he said. “... Gail is one of those teachers that every person hopes that their child will experience. She genuinely cares about the kids ... She is quiet, but there’s such genuine, heartfelt wisdom in the things that she says that you want to listen.”
When Esters hired Godwin several years ago, her last principal told him she had been a teacher of the year so many times she’d removed herself from consideration. He said one of her many special characteristics are her efforts to get parents involved.
In a written statement she sent in for the nomination process, Godwin said, “When I consider the role parents play in education, I realize they support the bridge between student and teacher/school relationships. I commit much of my planning time to student and parent conferencing within the first three weeks of school. I follow up with three to five additional conferences throughout the year. Students are always invited to sit in on these meetings.
“Conferences alone cannot maintain effective communication, so I rely on the use of daily planners to share notes about problems, concerns, and of course, celebrations of successes. It can’t stop there: I send weekly progress reports and newsletters because all parents do not have Internet access or even the time to log on daily ... When parents aren’t available for in-house conferencing, I embrace e-mail and phone conferencing. Constant communication with parents is a critical element in the academic and social progress of students.”
Godwin said she is unsure how she will spend the $3,000 award, but she plans to use at least part of it to buy more books for her classroom. Esters said he will talk with Godwin and the rest of the school’s staff about how to best use Brookwood’s $1,000 award.
Tom Jones Educator of the Year award
The award was started in 1987 to honor Thomas R. Jones who served on the Dalton Board of Education for 26 years, 22 years as chairman.
“Jones was well known for his support for public education as well as his support for Dalton,” Dalton Education Foundation Executive Director Jean Lowrey said in a press release. “He was co-founder of J&J Industries, a Chamber of Commerce board chairman, and a Rotarian. He was very active in the community and his church but devoted the majority of his volunteer time to the Dalton Public Schools.”
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