Yesterday, my beautiful and inspiring sister-in-law was named Teacher of the Year for the state of Florida! How cool is that!???
Here's the article from the Palm Beach Post:



Martin teacher honored as best in state
By Michael C. Bender
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 13, 2006

ORLANDO — None of Conney Dahn's students ever passed the FCAT.

Few will ever take a college course.

But Dahn's efforts to expose her special-needs students to sports and clubs while insisting that their classmates treat them with respect and dignity earned her the title of Florida's teacher of the year on Wednesday.

"I'm so excited," Dahn shouted after the announcement. "I can't wait to tell the whole state about my kids."

Dahn, who teaches at Jensen Beach High School, was picked from a pool of 177,000 public school teachers. She received a $10,000 check from event sponsor Macy's.

In the next 12 months, she will meet President Bush and travel the state, speaking to other educators.

"Conney Dahn is so deserving of this honor," Martin schools Superintendent Sara Wilcox said. "She is such an advocate for her students, and she gives everything for them. I just can't say enough about her."

Dahn (pronounced "Dane") became the first Martin County teacher to win the award. Since its inception in 1988, two teachers from St. Lucie County and one each from Okeechobee and Palm Beach have earned the statewide honor.

When state Education Commissioner John Winn announced her name from the stage of the Hard Rock Live at Universal Studios, Dahn threw her hands in the air and screamed. She ran to the edge of the stage and grabbed the hand of her oldest daughter, Ginger.

All three of Dahn's children were in the audience of about 500, which included her husband, Larry, several school board members and Jensen Beach High Principal Ginger Featherstone.

"Conney is very special in our hearts," Featherstone said. "She is a dynamic woman who truly exemplified what teaching is all about."

Among her many achievements in Martin County, Dahn spearheaded the effort to enroll disabled students in the county's traditional high schools and founded a chorus of more than 50 disabled students that has performed across the state. She also recruits, coaches and serves as a board member for Special Olympics Martin County.

The 54-year-old Alabama native has taught at all three district high schools since being hired in 1988.

With her award, Dahn also won a trip to New York for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. She has collected more than $15,000 — about one-fourth her salary — for receiving top-teacher honors in the district, region and state.

But Dahn didn't pick her profession for the cash rewards.

She picked it because of her sister.

Many who know Dahn assume she became a special-needs teacher because her second daughter, Katy, was born with cerebral palsy. But Dahn's inspiration came from watching her older sister teach kids with Down syndrome.

Certainly her second daughter's disabilities helped motivate the 32-year teaching veteran. Dahn earned her master's degree after Katy, now 27, was born.

And as Katy neared high school age, Dahn recognized that many disabled students needed to be in a normal high school setting.

In 1990, Dahn persuaded the school board to enroll some moderately disabled students, such as those with Down syndrome, at South Fork High School.

Two years later, Dahn was named the district's teacher of the year — she's now the only one to win it twice.

Dahn will be given a yearlong leave from the classroom to serve as the Christa McAuliffe ambassador for education, touring the state to speak about educational opportunity and challenges.

Dahn hopes to spend much of her time speaking in Tampa, where her 6-year-old granddaughter, Colley, lives.

Colley was born with Down syndrome.

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Thanks for sharing that, you must be SO proud!!! (BTW, she doesn't look old enough to have a grandbaby!)

Very Inspiring - Congrats to her and to you sister in law.