MEDIA CONTACT: Matt Cardoza, GaDOE Communications Office, (404) 651-7358, mcardoza@gadoe.org or Johnice McRae, (404) 562-7752, jomcrae@gadoe.org
    - Follow us on Twitter and Facebook

March 27, 2012 – Asherrie Yisrael, a science teacher with Georgia Virtual School, was recently named one of the top three finalists in the Nation for the 2012 National Online Teacher of the Year award for K-12 education. Now in its third year, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) & International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) National Online Teacher of the Year Award recognizes an outstanding online teacher for exceptional contributions to online K-12 education. For the 2012 award, nominees of online educators in public schools and state virtual schools poured in from 26 states.

“Virtual education is critical to the success of so many educational initiatives going on in Georgia and the U.S.,” said State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge. “Virtual education allows us to offer courses to students throughout the state who otherwise may not ever have access. I congratulate Asherrie on this very deserving recognition which serves as further confirmation of the great learning environment that Georgia Virtual School offers Georgia’s children. I hope that it will spark the interest of other teachers across Georgia to teach virtual courses.”

About the Finalist
An online high school science teacher, Asherrie Yisrael has taught Advanced Placement (AP) and regular physics, forensic science and physical science to grades nine through 12 at Georgia Virtual School since 2008. Based in Atlanta, Georgia Virtual School serves more than 10,000 students across the state. Cited by her supervisor of instruction as “a magnificent instructor who always goes the extra mile,” the Covington, Georgia, resident was 2010-2011 Teacher of the Year at Georgia Virtual School and recently became the Science Department Chair, where she will supervise and provide feedback to teachers as well as teach students.

For more information about the award program and the work of the Educational Technology Cooperative, visit www.sreb.org.

Georgia Virtual School is a program of the Georgia Department of Education's Office of Technology Services. The program is SACS and CASI accredited and operates in partnership with schools and parents to offer middle school and high school level courses across the state.  Georgia Virtual School provides a teacher led, virtual classroom environment.