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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 5, 1999

News Release

NEA Announces 1999 Ryan White HIV Education Award Winner

Washington, D.C. -- The National Education Association Health Information Network (NEA HIN) announced the winner of the 1999 Ryan White Memorial HIV Education Award--the association's highest honor for HIV education and advocacy. Phillip R. Armstrong, a special education teacher from Horry County, South Carolina, will be presented the award July 5 during NEA's annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.

The NEA Health Information Network established the award and a national endowment to honor Ryan White, an Indiana student whose courageous struggle with AIDS and tireless efforts to educate his community, teachers, and the American public has profoundly changed public understanding of HIV and AIDS.

Armstrong, this year's winner, is a special education teacher at Myrtle Beach High School in Horry County, South Carolina who pioneered innovative efforts to promote HIV/AIDS awareness. In 1993 he created Heart to Heart, an HIV/AIDS peer education training program for high school students using the American Red Cross AIDS Instructor training program. He trained teachers and students in the Get Real About AIDS curriculum, a program now presented to nearly 15,000 middle and high school students in Horry County. In support of Mr. Armstrong's nomination, Gerrita Postlewait, Superintendent of Horry County Schools, wrote that he is "someone who single-handedly makes a significant difference in the lives of children and adults in [this] community."

Mr. Armstrong serves on the Waccamaw HIV Care Consortium, providing support, experience and guidance to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, and coordinates the annual AIDS Walk, canned food drive, and other community benefits for local HIV/AIDS service organizations. In the face of great political controversy, according to Joanne Fraser of the Department of Education, Mr. Armstrong "continued to insist on the necessity for South Carolina to adopt accurate, factual, and effective AIDS education materials" when he served on the 1997 state textbook adoption committee for high school health education.

"Mr. Armstrong's persistence and dedication to fighting the pervasive ignorance and apathy surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic is the kind of work that embodies the spirit and legacy of Ryan White and the purpose behind the creation of our award program," said Jerald L. Newberry, executive director of the NEA Health Information Network. Mr. Newberry will present Mr. Armstrong with an award plaque and check for $500 to support Mr. Armstrong's continued efforts to engage the students and communities of South Carolina in HIV/AIDS prevention education, support and advocacy.

The Ryan White Memorial HIV Education Fund is used to educate the nation's school employees about HIV and AIDS, so that Ryan's experience will not happen to anyone else's child. The Ryan White Memorial HIV Education Award is presented annually to a member of NEA who helps to prevent future cases of HIV/AIDS and create a safe and supportive school environment for people living with the disease.

As a 16-year old, White's 1988 moving address to the Representative Assembly challenged and moved the delegates and staff of NEA to take greater action against the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

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