Richland Two Educator Wins Prestigious National Award

COLUMBIA, SC — Richland Two Educator Terri Butts has received one of public education’s most prestigious honors, the National Education Association (NEA) Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence and a $25,000 prize. She received the award at the NEA Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Education Gala held Friday, February 13 in Washington D.C.

Photo: Gary Phoebus, President and CEO of NEA Member Benefits; Terri Butts; Harriet Sanford, President and CEO of the NEA Foundation

The NEA Foundation’s celebrates the men and women who work in America’s public schools. Butts’ award was the evening’s finale. She was honored at the gala as a Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence winner and one of five finalists for the NEA Member Benefits Award from around the country.

“The decisions I make concerning how I teach are based on the likes, loves and needs of my students,” says Terri Butts, a curriculum effectiveness specialist for the Richland Two Child Development Center. “I engage them with lots of technology because I know they love it, and we sing and dance every Friday because they like it.”

“We are very proud of Terri and honored to have such an outstanding teacher serving the students of Richland Two,” said Superintendent Debbie Hamm. “She has become an inspiration to her students and the staff in our district.”

Butts achieved certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in 2002 and was recertified in 2011. She was named the 2012–2013 Richland School District Two Teacher of the Year, as well as the South Carolina Education Association Superhero in 2013, and a Certified Mentor in 2014.