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Photo by Ilene Perlman

Photo by Jim Harrison
BOSTON, October 4 – Road Scholar is pleased to recognize three outstanding teachers and lifelong learners as the winners of the first annual Road Scholar Educator of the Year Awards. Mary Burnham of Newbury, Vt., has won the $7,000 award. Toni Lampkin of Stanfield, Ore., has won the $2,000 award, and Jana Sackman Eaton of West Chester, Pennsylvania, has won the $1,000 award. Road Scholar is an initiative of Elderhostel, the world’s largest not-for-profit educational travel organization for older adults. Road Scholar is open to adults of all ages.

The Road Scholar Educator of the Year Awards allow deserving, experienced educators to discover Road Scholar programs throughout the United States and around the world. Winners will be able to use their award vouchers toward any Road Scholar program.

Eligible applicants included active teachers, principals, superintendents, school nurses, school librarians, and guidance counselors with at least 20 years experience in K-12 education. Reflecting the high level of accomplishment of candidates for the Awards, Road Scholar is giving each applicant for the Road Scholar Educator of the Year Awards a $100 voucher toward any Road Scholar program.

This year’s winners are experienced, hands-on educators. Originally from New York City, Burnham has lived in Vermont for over 30 years and has taught in rural schools in Vermont and New Hampshire. She currently teaches seventh-grade English and language arts at the Haverhill Cooperative Middle School in North Haverhill, New Hampshire. During her career she has taught grades 3-8 and has earned fellowships to the Bread Loaf School of English and the Fulbright Memorial Teacher program in Japan. She has served as the chair of the Nominating Committee for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Middle School and Secondary delegates. Burnham has been named a Levels of Technology Implementation (LoTi) Mentor to aid other teachers in integrating technology into academics and helped to implement her school’s “Laptop Initiative” for seventh- and eighth-graders. Burnham received her bachelor of arts from Molloy College and master of education degree from Antioch New England Graduate School. She also holds a master of arts in English from the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College.

"Putting oneself into disequilibrium is the best learning experience, I believe,” Burnham says. “Travel provides this opportunity again and again.”

Lampkin, a teacher for more than three decades, teaches U.S. history and civics to seventh- and eighth-graders in Hermiston, Oregon. She has participated in Fulbright Teacher Programs in Japan and India. Lampkin is involved in the social studies content assessment panel with the Oregon Department of Education and the Teacher Evaluation Committee in her school district. She is a graduate of Portland State University.

Lampkin says, “Travel is truly the gold standard in professional development. My mother has traveled with Elderhostel, and we often joked about when I would be old enough to attend…I hope this is the year through Road Scholar.

Eaton has spent 28 years teaching social science courses in the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, specializing in advanced placement comparative government and politics, and cultural studies over the past decade. Eaton earned her bachelor of arts degree from Northwestern University and a master’s in education from West Chester University. She also holds a doctorate degree in education from Widener University.

“I am forever grateful for the myriad benefits that education has bestowed on me,” Eaton says. “My life has been dedicated to teaching, to contributing to the education profession, and to lifelong learning.”

The winners were chosen by a selection committee made up of former Elderhostel Board Chair Harry R. Moody, former Elderhostel Board Members Alan Carter and John Reinhardt, former Elderhostel President William Berkeley and Kali Lightfoot of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine.

“We are thrilled to offer the Road Scholar Educator of the Year Awards to such distinguished educators,” says James Moses, president and CEO of Elderhostel and Road Scholar. “Elderhostel and Road Scholar were founded on the belief that learning is important and enriching at every stage of life. We are delighted that so many amazing educators applied for these awards. The quality of these candidates and their dedication to lifelong learning should give us great faith in our educational system.”

In 2004, Elderhostel launched Road Scholar to meet the needs of a new generation of independent educational travelers. Elderhostel, founded in 1975, is the world’s largest not-for-profit educational travel organization for older adults. More than 160,000 people enroll in Elderhostel’s nearly 8,000 programs annually. Road Scholar provides exceptional educational adventures throughout the United States and around the world. For more information, please visit www.roadscholar.org or www.elderhostel.org.

To apply or nominate an experienced educator for the 2007 Road Scholar Eduator of the Year Award, visit http://www.roadscholar.org/teacheraward/.

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