Four Shelby County teachers were honored at the April 20th Board of Education meeting as the 2017 recipients of the Owens-Young Technology Innovation Award, which recognizes teachers who do an outstanding job of integrating technology into their classrooms.

The award was established in 2013 to honor the memory of two former Shelby County Schools’ employees who paved the way for teachers to integrate technology into their classrooms.  Denise Owens, the wife of former District Attorney Robby Owens, was a former teacher and technology resource teacher who passed away in 2007.  Michael Young, who passed away in 2013, was a network technician whose work supported teachers.

This year’s recipients were Melissa Johnson, a fourth-grade English Language Arts teacher at Oak Mountain Intermediate School; Chad Burdett, a seventh-grade Math teacher at Oak Mountain Middle School; Shannon Goodwin, a Geometry and Honors Geometry teacher at Chelsea High School; and Leigh Anne Brown, a ninth-grade and tenth-grade English and Pre-AP English teacher at Calera High School.

Each spring teachers are nominated by peers and school administrators for the Owens-Young Technology Award.  Each of the winners receives $1,000 in technology for their classroom.