The Georgia Association for Gifted Children has given their 2022 Leadership Award to Habersham County Schools Gifted Program Coordinator Martha Cantrell, Ph.D., for her accomplishments in growing Habersham’s gifted program.
The award is given to an individual who has “made a significant difference to gifted education in his/her school, school district, or region to bring about change that results in improvement in gifted education,” according to the GAGC’s website.
Director of Elementary and Secondary Curriculum Patrick Franklin presented her with the award at the county board of education meeting Monday, thanking her for her dedication to the school system.
“Dr. Cantrell is a dedicated supporter of gifted education,” Franklin said. “But more than anything else, Dr. Cantrell is an advocate for our gifted students, whether they have been identified yet or not.”
Cantrell has been the system’s gifted program coordinator for over 13 years and has increased the school’s number of identified gifted students from 461 to over 1,200 over her tenure with the program. She has helped the system increase the number of classes for gifted program students, revived the school system’s math honor society, created academic excellence programs and the academic booster club.
This isn’t the first time Cantrell’s leadership has been recognized at a state level, she was also named to former Governor Nathan Deal’s Education Advisory Board in 2014.
“I’m just really honored to work with a great group of teachers and a great group of administrators in a wonderful school system,” Cantrell said.
