RADFORD -- Radford University graduate Tamatha Farrell has been selected as a finalist for the 2008 McGlothlin Awards for Teaching Excellence, which are sponsored by the McGlothlin Foundation of Bristol. Farrell, who graduated from RU in 1995 with a degree in interdisciplinary studies, teaches in Roanoke County’s Burlington Elementary School. She is one of six finalists, three for grades K-5 and three for grades 6-12. One winner for each level will receive a $25,000 prize. Winners will be announced during an award ceremony that culminates the McGlothlin Celebration of Teaching at RU on Thursday, April 17.

Two other RU graduates were named among 18 semi-finalists for the awards. J. Vincent Groseclose, who earned a bachelor’s degree in special education in 1979 and a master’s degree in preschool education in 1983, teaches at Marion Intermediate School in Smyth County. Rhonda McDonald, who received an RU master’s degree in reading in 1984, teaches at Eagle Rock Elementary School in Botetourt County.

In addition to Farrell, the 2008 finalists are Michele Quesenberry of Colonial Elementary School, Botetourt County Public Schools; Dawn Toole of Patrick Henry Elementary School, Martinsville City Public Schools; Susan Montgomery of the Gereau Center, Franklin County Public Schools; Stephanie Doyle of Breckinridge Middle School, Roanoke City Public Schools; Tracy Easterling of Vance Middle School, Bristol City (Tenn.) Public Schools.

The McGlothlin Awards for Teaching Excellence are among the largest teaching awards in the nation and are available only to educators in this region. Each year two award winners receive $25,000 each, with the stipulation that $10,000 must be used, within a year, for international travel and/or study to broaden the thinking and experience of the winning teachers and further enhance their excellence as professional educators. According to Thomas D. McGlothlin, president of the McGlothlin Foundation, "The McGlothlin Foundation wishes to inspire the award recipients so that they can breathe new life into their classrooms, their peers, and indeed the entire school."

The McGlothlin Awards program, now in its ninth year, is administered by Blue Ridge PBS. Since 2002, RU’s College of Education and Human Development has collaborated with Blue Ridge PBS and the McGlothlin Foundation to host the McGlothlin Celebration of Teaching and the McGlothlin Awards ceremony.

To learn more, visit www.radford.edu/mcglothlin