ITS Graduate Earns Ai Ling Guan Educator Prize
From the Columbia Star, June 25, 2020
https://www.thecolumbiastar.com/articles/east-point-academy-assistant-principal-receives-education-award/
“Sustaining East Point Academy’s tradition of excellence, Assistant Principal for Language Immersion, Junlan Li, was recently honored with the Ai Ling Guan Educator Prize. This prize is awarded annually to educators who work in the field of Chinese Language Education across Canada and the United States. For 2020, the prize committee selected three educators from hundreds of nominations including Li. Earning this distinction makes her the first educator in both North and South Carolina to receive the Ai Ling Guan Educator Prize.
In addition to the honor itself, each honoree receives a $1,000 check. Li made the gracious decision to donate her cash prize back to East Point Academy, a public charter school, saying “I credit my recognition to the excellent teachers, and the strong leadership at East Point Academy.”
Bringing more than 20 years of education experience both in the U.S. and in China, Li oversees the language immersion program and helps direct the instruction of more than twenty language immersion teachers. She has been working at East Point Academy for four years. Before being promoted to AP for Chinese Immersion in 2018, she taught science, math, and Mandarin to both middle-level and elementary students.
Remarking on her hard work and success, Head of School Mark Bounds said “Ms. Li is truly deserving of this honor. She brings tremendous talent and energy to our school. Her efforts have been an important part of the success of our language immersion program and our overall academic success.”
East Point Academy is a highly rated Mandarin Immersion free Public Charter School that provides rigorous academics with a global focus to students from four-year-old kindergarten to eighth grade. It was named the “Best” Charter School by the State Newspaper, “Best” Private or Charter School in Columbia by the Free Times. East Point Academy is currently accepting applications for the 2020/ 2021 school year. To learn more, visit www.eastpointsc.org.”