During a regular meeting, the Polk County Board of Education recognized the full funding of the William J. Miller NCCAT Honored Educator Scholarship Monday, February 13. The William J. Miller Honored Educator Scholarship has been created to honor Mr. Miller, who retired after a distinguished career in Polk County Schools as a teacher, coach, principal, administrator, and superintendent.
Mr. Miller served more than 30 years in Polk County School District. He spent time on Wingate's men's basketball staff before beginning a teaching career as social studies teacher and basketball coach at Tyron High School. He later worked as a principal at Polk County High School and as the Polk County district's personnel director and assistant superintendent before becoming superintendent in 2004.
NCCAT's Honored Educator Scholarship Program provides an opportunity to pay tribute to outstanding individuals and educators by establishing scholarship funds in their names. Scholarships are created to honor classroom teachers, coaches, administrators, school board members, or community volunteers—anyone who has made a positive difference in education. An endowment of $25,000 is needed to fund a scholarship fully. Each fully endowed scholarship is awarded annually to a North Carolina teacher. Scholarship funds cover program costs and provide recipients with a $250 cash award for a classroom project. Many donors choose to establish a scholarship that gives preference to recipients from a specific geographic area or academic discipline. NCCAT administers the awarding of each scholarship with careful adherence to the donor's direction through scholarship applications each year. The Polk County Board of Education voted to use the scholarship for the county Beginning Teacher of the Year each year.
"The William J. Miller Honored Educator Scholarship was jointly established by The Stuart and Margaret L. Forbes Foundation and the Ann L. Turner and Geoffrey M. Tennant Foundation. I want to thank the Board members of both foundations for their dedication and commitment to the teaching profession. As a lifelong educator, you may never know the scope of your impact or influence, but as evidenced today by those in attendance tonight, there is no doubt that you have truly touched the lives of many in Polk County and will continue to do so with this Scholarship," NCCAT Executive Director Dr. M. Brock Womble said during the presentation Thursday.
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Photo Caption - (From left to right) Susan McHugh, representing The Stuart and Margaret L. Forbes Foundation; Alice Tennant, representing the Ann L. Turner and Geoffrey M. Tennant Foundation; Mr. William Miller and NCCAT Executive Director Dr. M. Brock Womble.