Gretchen Abernathy Named Distinguished Educator Of 2015

  • Monday, April 20, 2015
Dalton Middle School teacher Gretchen Abernathy and three of her students traveled to the State Capitol to be recognized by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust for their achievements. Pictured left to right: Will Rowland, Hillary Dong, Gretchen Abernathy and Laken Land.
Dalton Middle School teacher Gretchen Abernathy and three of her students traveled to the State Capitol to be recognized by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust for their achievements. Pictured left to right: Will Rowland, Hillary Dong, Gretchen Abernathy and Laken Land.
The Georgia Commission on the Holocaust has named Gretchen Abernathy the Distinguished Educator of 2015 for her exemplary contribution to the organization’s mission. She was recognized by State Representative Bruce Broadrick during the Days of Remembrance Ceremony at the State Capitol for her recent accomplishment, along with three Dalton Middle School student winners of the 2015 Creative Arts Student Contest. 

“We are very fortunate to have the talent and dedication of Gretchen Abernathy in our school system,” said Rep.
Broadrick. “She is an inspiration and mentor to others and will accept only the best from her students.” 

“On behalf of the students and staff at Dalton Middle School, we are so proud of Gretchen Abernathy and her accomplishment of the Commission’s Distinguished Educator of 2015,” said Brian Suits, DMS principal. “Her commitment to students and tolerance coupled with her vast knowledge of the Holocaust is a great addition to the culture of our school.” 

Ms. Abernathy began teaching “The Diary of Anne Frank” in 1990 and was captivated by the story. Since then, she has immersed herself in the Holocaust by researching, watching documentaries and reading. 

After reading “The Diary of Anne Frank,” her students create a piece of art, music, writing or a performance in relation to the Holocaust. Ms. Abernathy then submits the top three projects to the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust’s Creative Arts Student Contest. For the last seven years, her students have placed in the top three at the competition. This year’s winners were Hillary Dong, 1st place in writing, middle school division; Laken Land, 2nd Place in art, middle school division; and Will Rowland, 3rd place in writing, middle school division.  

Officials said, "Ms. Abernathy was honored to receive the award, but fame and glory wasn’t a motivator for her work. She dedicated the award to her students and her friend, colleague and role model, Lynn Parker, who passed away a few years ago." 

“When I found out I won, I was sitting alone checking my email after school,” she said. “I immediately pointed upwards and said ‘This is for you’. This isn’t about me. This is for Lynn and my students. They are amazing.”

"Connectedness and relating to others is an underlying theme in almost everything Ms. Abernathy does. To her, the classroom is an open forum for her students to comfortably express a variety of emotions pertaining to their personal life or the subjects they are learning. Through reading “The Diary of Anne Frank” and “The Freedom Writers,” she teaches her students that understanding, tolerance and being an up stander, not a bystander, is essential," officials said.

“Our school is totally diversified and my students can relate to a lot,” said Ms. Abernathy. “This is an impressionable age. Just because they are not in a 1940s Holocaust situation, they can still relate to these people. They can make sure it never happens again.”
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