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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 5, 2002

News Release

Teacher of the Year Celebrates Fellow Educators

?There is no work that is more patriotic than to be a teacher?

Dallas - National Teacher of the Year Chauncey Veatch used the Fourth of July holiday to address some 9,000 educators about the value of public education to our democracy. Speaking at the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association, Veatch, a retired U.S. Army officer, said, ?Having served my country wearing the uniform of our armed forces, it is important that I share with you that there is no work in my entire life that I have done that is more patriotic than to be a teacher.?

Veatch, a social studies teacher at Coachella Valley High School in Thermal, Calif., teaches students of modest economic means, including children of migrant workers. In his classroom, Veatch uses two words frequently-literacy and dreams. ?It is fundamental to the survival of our democracy, that we have a populace that is literate and that is educated,? he said.

The 2002 Teacher of the Year noted, ?Thomas Jefferson once wrote that a nation that hopes to be ignorant and free never was and never will be. What is the entity in this culture-our democracy-that has set as its task and its goal, to educate every child? That is our public education system.?

Veatch also discussed the importance of diversity. ?The richness of this country is not based on how we are alike, it is based on the ideals that bind us together because we are so gloriously different,? he said.

Veatch is actively involved in the Coachella Valley community. Along with his students, Veatch has distributed health information leaflets in migrant labor camps, produced a documentary on the life of Cesar Chavez, and developed a literacy buddy program with third-graders in nearby elementary schools.

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.