'Legacy Makers' Honored For Commitment To Students

CANTON, GA -- The Cherokee County School District celebrated outstanding educators last week with an elegant dinner, tributes and gifts at the 2017 Legacy Makers: CCSD Teachers of the Year Celebration.

The annual dinner for the CCSD Teacher of the Year and school-level Teachers of the Year was co-hosted by Credit Union of Georgia and Northside Hospital-Cherokee and was held Dec. 8 at the Northside Hospital-Cherokee Conference Center in Canton.

Cherokee County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Hightower congratulated CCSD 2017 Teacher of the Year Brian Carnes of Sequoyah High School, as well as all school-level winners during the event, which also was attended by all CCSD principals, the Superintendent’s Cabinet and school board members.

“Our school district’s Teacher of the Year exemplifies what you can accomplish when you take a risk to follow your heart’s calling,” Dr. Hightower said of Carnes, who left behind a successful career in the poultry industry to pursue his dream of teaching high school chemistry. “We’re so glad he listened, as are the hundreds of students who learned from him in special education, science and Advanced Placement chemistry classes over the last 12 years. And the many others who benefitted from his leadership as Student Government Association sponsor.”

Dr. Hightower then introduced Madison Evans, one of Carnes’s former students, who spoke about how he encouraged and taught her so well, her current college chemistry classes seem easy.

Carnes in his speech spoke about how his faith in his teaching abilities, which started “as small as a mustard seed,” coupled with his family’s support, enabled him to “move mountains” and not only fulfill his dream, but also earn accolades. He also congratulated all of the school-level Teachers of the Year for their accomplishments, noting how hearing about their successes during the evening’s program made his award even more meaningful and humbling.

Dr. Hightower presented gifts to all of the school Teacher of the Year winners, including a $150 Visa Gift Card, a portrait by Lifetouch Portrait Studio and an engraved plaque and a tote bag filled with supplies and gifts.

Carnes additionally received: an XPS-13 laptop computer from Dell; a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 Bundle from Southern Computer Warehouse; a Chromebook 13g1 laptop computer from Hewlett Packard; a $500 Visa gift card from the Cherokee County Educational Foundation; a $400 Visa gift card from Alcatel-Lucent; an iPad Mini 2 from Toshiba; an Amazon Echo from CommScope; a $100 Amazon gift card from Follett; and gifts from Massage Envy and Professional Association of Georgia Educators.

Sponsors who made all of the gifts possible are:

• Presenting Sponsors: Credit Union of Georgia and Northside Hospital-Cherokee;
• Platinum Sponsor: Cherokee County Educational Foundation;
• Gold Sponsors: Dell, Hewlett Packard, Lifetouch Portrait Studio, Mark Harville Inc., Poole’s Insulation and Southern Computer Warehouse;
• Silver Sponsors: Alcatel-Lucent, Center Cut Catering, Cherokee Education Association, Cobb EMC, Fforg Inc., Georgia Association of Educators, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Maps.com, Path & Post, A Becky Babcock Team and Toshiba Business Solutions;
• Bronze Sponsors: Chick-fil-A of Canton, CommScope, FloorCare Specialists Inc., Follett, Massage Envy, Nova Engineering & Environmental LLC, Professional Association of Georgia Educators, Roly Poly of Woodstock and The Travel Store; and,
• Friends of CCSD sponsors: AngelTrax, Educators First, Kroger and Quia/IXL.

Photo 1: Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Hightower, left, congratulates CCSD Teacher of the Year Brian Carnes of Sequoyah High School.

Photo 2: Cherokee County School Board Chair Kyla Cromer, left, and board members applaud as Teachers of the Year are introduced and come forward to be congratulated.

Photo 3: CCSD Teacher of the Year Brian Carnes of Sequoyah High School shares his remarks.

Photo credits: Cherokee County School District