Beard Excellence in Teaching Award
2013 Awards Ceremony is May 8

The Story of Theodore and Margaret Beard Connecticut natives Theodore and Margaret Beard attended public schools through high school in Bethel and Danbury. They continued, throughout their lives, to believe in public education. In 2002, together with the Greater Bridgeport Area Foundation, the Beard family developed the Theodore and Margaret Beard Excellence in Teaching Award, an endowed fund that recognizes a public school teacher in Bridgeport. Since then, 18 Bridgeport teachers have been honored. As part of the merged foundation, the Fairfield County Community Foundation is pleased and honored to continue this fine tradition.

About the Beard Award

The Theodore and Margaret Beard Excellence in Teaching Award was established in 2002 by the Beard family to recognize and reward teachers who exemplify professional excellence, a commitment to teaching and an ability to inspire learning among students, communities and colleagues. Theodore and Margaret Beard, former Bridgeport residents, were dedicated to quality public education and believed the most important job in society is that of the teacher.

Each year, up to two Bridgeport educators are recognized with the award, receiving an unrestricted cash award of $25,000. The Beard Excellence in Teaching Award is among the largest awards of its kind in the country.

The awards will be announced at the Inspiration Awards ceremony on May 8, 2013 in partnership with the Bridgeport Public Education Foundation.

The 2012 Winners

The 2012  Beard Award winners are Kathleen Sullivan, a chemistry teacher at Central High School and Candice King-Sadler, a first grade teacher at Cesar Batalla School.

Ms. King-Sadler has been a teacher in Bridgeport for six years and serves as the teacher leader for the Total Learning approach – mentoring eight of her colleagues.

Colleagues and peers consistently identify Ms. King-Sadler as having one of the most well-run classrooms in the school, an accomplishment achieved by building a community among her students and providing each student with responsibilities and specific roles.

Ms. Sullivan has been a teacher in Bridgeport for three years and serves as the learning team leader with Teach for America, mentoring and overseeing the professional development of more than a dozen new high school science teachers.

Ms. Sullivan creates clear, measurable objectives for each of her students and creates an atmosphere in her classroom which promotes inquiry, discovery and open and active dialogue.