Today we're celebrating 17 educators who just earned their NGPF Distinguished Educator awards, an epic professional development feat!

Educators never cease to amaze. To earn the NGPF Distinguished Educator award, teachers must pass at least 6 NGPF Certification Courses, each of which is 10 hours of live instruction and an end-of-course exam.

To recognize teachers' incredible dedication to their craft, the NGPF Distinguished Educator award comes with great prizes:

• a physical NGPF Distinguished Educator plaque,
• a digital NGPF Distinguished Educator badge for email signatures, and
• well-earned celebration (as below) on the NGPF website.

Without further ado, meet your newly crowned NGPF Distinguished Educators!

Christine Butler from Osborne High School (GA)

Jillian Crowe from Penta Career Center (OH)

Gwen Duralek from Franklin High School (NJ)

Denise Ebright from St. Theresa School (CA)

Renee LaRue from MLK Magnet Elementary School (VA)

Deena Lashway from Hampshire Regional High School (MA)

Marcia Latta from Mckay High School (OR)

Angela Litton from Ripley High School (WV)

Tamikah McDuffie from Sara A. Babb High School (SC)

John McLeod from Baptist Hill High School (SC)

Christel Merritt from East McDowell Middle School (NC)

Jessica Ratcliff from Poquoson High (VA)

Laura Robinson from North Gaston High School (NC)

Michelle Sims from A. Philip Randolph Campus High School (NY)

Janna Spears from Alta High School (UT)

Lindsey Stanton from Mount Si High School (WA)

Jane Viau from The Frederick Douglass Academy I (NY)

They're joining a Distinguished Crew!

• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohorts 1-24, announced July 2022)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohorts 25-26, announced September 2022)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 27, announced November 2022)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 28, announced December 2022)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 29, announced January 2023)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 30, announced February 2023)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 31, announced April 2023)
• Meet the Distinguished Educators (earned Cohort 32, announced May 2023)

About the Author

Christian Sherrill

Former teacher, forever financial education nerd. As NGPF's Director of Growth & Advocacy, Christian is laser-focused on our mission to guarantee all students a rigorous personal finance course before crossing the high school graduation stage. Having paid down over $40k in student loans in the span of 3 years - while living in the Bay Area on an entry level teacher's salary - he's eager to help the next generation avoid financial pitfalls one semester at a time.