story by Claire Miller
The Georgia Association of Colleges for Teacher Education awarded its 2020-2021 Mentor Teacher Award to Miriam Miles, a mentor teacher in the Georgia State University College of Education & Human Development's (CEHD) Collaboration and Reflection to Enhance Atlanta Teacher Effectiveness (CREATE) teacher residency program.
This award is given annually to a mentor teacher who “demonstrates exceptional service in the development and support of aspiring teachers,” according to her award letter. Nominees are chosen based on their years of service, their mentoring record, sustained participation in professional activities, leadership and recommendations.
Miles is a first grade teacher at Parkside Elementary School in Atlanta who has 23 years of experience as a teacher and has mentored several CEHD teacher education students in the CREATE program. She is the Atlanta Public Schools professional learning leader for its gifted summer program and has served as her grade level chair for many years.
"Mentoring at Georgia State University has been a humbling experience, as I'm constantly learning as much from the students as they are from me,” Miles said. “I feel comforted knowing that the work of teaching children will continue in the hands of all the dedicated student teachers and mentor teachers in the field.”