The Walker County Board of Education congratulates Chastity Steadman, the first teacher in Walker County Schools to complete the rigorous requirements for Georgia Master Teacher status through the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.

Steadman is in her 10th year of teaching 8th grade math at LaFayette Middle School.  She received a Master's in Middle Grades Education and an Ed.S. in Educational Leadership from Berry College and has completed endorsements for both Teacher of the Gifted and ESOL.

Governor Sonny Perdue initiated the Georgia Master Teacher Certification Program in 2005 to honor and recognize certified public school teachers who have at least three years of classroom teaching experience and consistently demonstrate excellence of instruction evidenced through student achievement.  "They are masters at inspiring students to learn," said Perdue. 

Steadman is one of only fifty-seven teachers statewide to achieve Master Teacher status in 2008 and the first in Walker County Schools.

Pictured:  Superintendent Melissa Mathis with Chastity Steadman, Board Chairman Mike Carruth and Board members Patty Hart, Phyllis Hunter, Susan Wells and James A. Smith.