University of South Carolina alum Stephanie M. Johnson is one of five finalists for the National Education Association Foundation’s Teaching Excellence Award. Stephanie graduated from the College of Education’s Master of Arts in Elementary Education program in 2004 after completing her Bachelor of Arts in English at in 2003.

A representative from Horace Mann, a partner for the award, presented Stephanie with a crystal owl statue a as part of a surprise reception.

Stephanie credited several of her University of South Carolina professors with playing important roles in her development as a teacher, including Dr. Gloria Swindler Boutte and Dr. Susi Long for including her in their Fulbright-Hays Group Abroad Project, Sankofa:  Understanding Sierra Leone’s History, Language, and Culture to Teach Future Generations.

In February 2017, Stephanie will attend the NEA Foundation Gala in Washington, D.C., where she will be awarded $10,000, and the Foundation will announce overall winner of the Teaching Excellence Award. Stephanie will also be recognized for receiving a California Casualty Award, another award for teaching excellence made possible by a partnership of the National Education Association and the California Casualty insurance company, earlier this year.