Gunston Teacher Receives 2020 Mary Peake Award for Excellence in Education Equity

Gunston Middle School Equity and Excellence Coordinator and Instructional Lead Teacher Dr. Shantha Smith is the recipient of the Virginia Department of Education’s 2020 Mary Peake Award for Excellence in Education Equity. Dr. Smith was given the award because of her commitment to advancing education equity in Virginia.

The Mary Peake Award for Excellence in Education Equity highlights individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the advancement of equity in education for students in Virginia. The award offers the Commonwealth an opportunity to recognize educators, policy makers, education advocacy groups, and stakeholder organizations whose service and leadership is impacting equity outcomes for Virginia students.

The Commonwealth is committed to ensuring that its public education system is positioned to achieve equitable academic outcomes for all students. As such, The Virginia Department of Education’s equity framework expresses its commitment to eliminating the predictability of student outcomes based on race, gender, zip code, ability, socio-economic status and/or languages spoken at home. This requires that ALL students have access to high quality learning programs that enable them to maximize their potential. Every day, all across the Commonwealth, countless individuals and organizations work tirelessly in various capacities to help achieve this goal.

Dr. Smith will be recognized at a virtual awards ceremony on Dec. 3. This celebration will be virtual and live streamed on the VDOE’s YouTube Channel.

Additional details are available online.