Sue Ann "Barbara" Gleason, a first-grade teacher at Cedar Lane Elementary School in Ashburn, received the 2007 Agnes Meyer Award for Loudoun County Wednesday, Feb. 21, at the Administration Building in Ashburn.
The Agnes Meyer Award is named after the wife of Eugene Meyer, who bought the Washington Post in 1933 and was an advocate of public education. Gleason, who was nominated for the award in 1994 and 2005, will also receive $3,000 cash prize.
"I have a husband who doesn’t mind that I spend all of my money on school supplies," she said, "and spend most nights in my classroom."
There were four other nominees for the award, including Martha Akers, a photojournalism teacher at Loudoun Valley High School; Kathryn Chrisman, a business and marketing teacher at Potomac Falls High School; Jeffrey Jacobson, a fifth-grade teacher at Evergreen Mill Elementary School; and John Wells, a drama teacher at Loudoun County High School.
Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick said Gleason not only inspired students, but the teachers she works with.
"You make such a difference in the texture of Loudoun County Public Schools, the reputation of Loudoun County Public Schools," he said. "Thank you for what you do."