Veteran mathematics teacher Ann Brannen has been selected as Bainbridge College Technical Studies Division Rick Perkins Award Winner for 2008-09.
Ms Brannen will vie at the regional level in July for the opportunity to compete for the state title in September, said BC Tech Studies Division Chair James “Bo” Hylton. The regional event will be at Moultrie Technical College.
Regional winners will compete at the Georgia Lighthouse Institute in September for the state title. The institute is a professional development event of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), formerly called the Department of Technical and Adult Education.
The state winner is Instructor of the Year for TCSG and serves as an ambassador for technical education, Hylton said.
This annual award given by TCSG recognizes outstanding faculty at the college, regional and state levels. Competition for regional and state winners includes a series of interviews by business and industry leaders from across the state. Hylton noted that each technical college in Georgianominates an outstanding instructor for this award.
Mrs. Brannen, who has been an assistant professor of technical math at BC since 2003 and served as part-time faculty from 1995, was selected in part for her work improving mathematics instruction. She has been instrumental in adopting new math lab software for updating the general education math course at BC and because she uses technology to help students develop problem solving skills and critical thinking skills that prepare them for the workforce.
BC President Dr. Tom Wilkerson said that she “is a tremendous asset to the Bainbridge College Technical Studies Division in multiple areas – classroom instruction, leadership, service to the institution.”
He said that she constantly searches for ways to improve the delivery of instruction to her students and that the “significant changes” she initiated and implemented in BC’s math program “have positively impacted our students as exhibited by their performance on the exit exam as well as improved computer skills.”
A proven leader with strong work ethics both within the college community and in the larger community, Mrs. Brannen is dedicated to student success in the classroom and beyond, Dr. Wilkerson said.
She has served as a club sponsor for BC Cares and is active at First United Methodist Church. Her innovative abilities have been displayed as board president of Samaritan Counseling Center of Southwest Georgia.
With the vision for change and the support of the community, she and fellow board members persisted through the start-up process to lay a solid foundation for an accredited counseling center. Ms. Brannen has also served as board president of YMCA and a board member of the Community Foundation of South Georgia.
She came to BC with a background as a teacher of middle grades math. She earned her master’s degree in mathematics education from Georgia Southwestern State University and her bachelor’s degree in special education from Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC, where she met her husband, Hal, who is a financial advisor at Warren-Brannen Co.
She is a member of the American Association of University Professors and Georgia Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges. Through BC Cares, she participated in the Mentor Program, sent cards to troop in Iraq, and helped organize reading to children in school system.
In addition to other community service, she has been involved with Riverside Artsfest, is a board member of Friendship House for which she organized crafts and food for its summer program for children, and has been active with the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. She is a member of Memorial Hospital Foundation Board. She and her family were the host family for a Rotary International student from Ecuador.
The Bainbridge native is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John M. Simmons and granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. D.R. Simmons Sr. and Mr. and Mrs. John Sevier. She and her husband have two children, Lesley and Major, who attend the University of Georgia.
