The Community Foundation for a greater Richmond and the R.E.B. Foundation recognized six Chesterfield County teachers with 2019 R.E.B. Awards for Teaching Excellence during a regional ceremony earlier this week. Five additional Chesterfield County teachers were recognized as award finalists.

These 11 Chesterfield County teachers will receive almost $70,000 in professional development grants. Nearly 30 outstanding public school teachers from across the region were selected as honorees.

More than 200 business, faith, and civic community partners were celebrated earlier this week for their support of public education in Chesterfield County. During a partnership recognition breakfast sponsored by the Virginia Credit Union, Chesterfield County Public Schools saluted those in attendance who have provided millions of dollars of financial support, in-kind donations and volunteer hours.

“We are fortunate to have a number of partners willing to invest in our efforts to create a better tomorrow,” School Board Chair Rob Thompson said. “Our partners are vital to helping us ignite passion in all of our students through authentic and captivating experiences.”

For their senior Capstone Project, Sophie Azula and Kate Morris, two students in the Leadership and International Relations Specialty Center at James River High School, are implementing a plan to help better students’ education within their own school  community. They have been researching and formulating a plan to combat the digital divide that goes largely unaddressed within public education systems. 

A digital divide is defined as the gap between those who have access to or the use of both computers and the Internet and those who do not. In their efforts to bridge the digital divide in their school, they reached out to  Brian Jones, the school division’s executive director of technology, for a little help putting their plan into action.