Athens Academy Teacher Receives Distinguished Service Award

Longtime English teacher Margaret Leary was recently recognized by the Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) for her outstanding work in education.  Margaret received the Distinguished Service Award for having dedicated 25 years of service to independent schools.

Margaret was honored on Sunday, Nov. 6, during the GISA Annual Conference at Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw.  GISA is an association of private, independent, and parochial schools throughout the state sharing “a commitment to overall excellence and to the nurture and care of the physical, intellectual, social and moral development of all students.”

Although Margaret has 25 years in independent school education, she began her career in the public school system, where she taught English and history for eleven years.  After a year at George Walton Academy, Margaret joined the faculty at Athens Academy, where she has taught in the Middle and Upper School English departments for 24 years.  For some of those years, she also served as the chair of the English department.  Margaret has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Victoria in British Columbia, as well as M.Ed. and Ed.S. degrees in English from the University of Georgia.

The entire school community is pleased to congratulate Margaret on her hard work and dedication to independent education and to Athens Academy.