by Kimberly Willis Green
Atlanta Public Schools’ 2014-2015 Districtwide Teacher of the Year Barry Blackmon, II, is one of Georgia Trend magazine’s “2015 Top 40 Under 40.” For the past 19 years, the magazine has selected 40 outstanding Georgians under the age of 40 who represent the best and the brightest in business, government, politics, nonprofits, science, healthcare and education. The 40 honorees were chosen from nominations made by readers throughout the state.
A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Blackmon attended Bethune-Cookman College where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Journalism and a Masters of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction. He began his teaching career in 2003 as a reading teacher at Duval County Public Schools. Four years later, Blackmon relocated to Atlanta to teach for Atlanta Public Schools. He volunteered to teach abroad, and founded a boys mentoring club, “Gentlemen’s Project,” that builds self-esteem and promotes service learning. A former sixth grade gifted English and Language Arts teacher at the B.E.S.T. Academy at Benjamin S. Carson, Blackmon is currently the social studies instructional coach.
Click here to see a video of Mr. Blackmon in the classroom.
Congratulations Mr. Blackmon!