Awards

Since our parents/grandparents are loyal blog readers, I know that they will appreciate hearing about our recent accolades.

Georgia State University Outstanding Faculty Award: I won this 2008-2009 honor given annually to a faculty member at Georgia State who has done excellent work in research/scholarship, teaching, and service. Given that I have been in England for a portion of the time, I am wondering if the committee was especially pleased with me being away. I will make a brief trip to Atlanta for the awards dinner and to sit on the stage at commencement at the Georgia Dome with the new GSU president.

FC Belvedere Man of the Match: If I wasn't already strutting around the house, but the same week I was selected as the FC Belvedere Man-of-the-Match in our Sunday game. Rachelle knows that until someone else is selected at our next Belvedere match, I will only respond to her when she refers to me as "Man-of-the-Match."

Noah the Mentor: Rachelle and I were picking up the kids from school and entering the gate when the principal pulled us out from the throng of parents and said in a very serious way, "I need to talk to you...about Noah." He ushered us to a private space as we gulped and wondered what trouble Noah might have caused. The principal proceeded to tell us that Noah is "gifted" in interacting with younger children and that it is "moving" to watch Noah with them. The principal actually got choked up and had to stop speaking as he detailed to us how he has never seen a boy with Noah's skills! We learned that at the school assembly that day, the principal spoke about how every person has special talents, such as math, sports, or underwater photography, and that it might takes years to realize what is your unique gift. He proceeded to tell the children that he had observed one child in the school who was especially talented at helping and interacting with younger children. He had Noah stand as the whole school clapped.