Dr. Deborah Stark, Associate Professor of Music at Emmanuel College, has been selected to participate in the 2012-13 Governor‘s Teaching Fellows (GTF) at the University of Georgia.

Established in 1995 by Gov. Zell Miller, GTF works to improve the quality of instruction offered at all colleges and universities in Georgia by moving faculty members to the leading edge of instructional practice. New teaching techniques are vital in today’s colleges because technology is constantly changing.

Teachers who are selected to attend this distinguished program contribute to and learn from each other.

“I am eager to learn how I can be a more effective teacher and hope I may return the honor by pouring back and investing in the Emmanuel community,” says Dr. Stark. “I am especially excited about connecting with other Fellows throughout Georgia as we share, grow and encourage one another.”

Dr. Stark has a B.M.M. from Ozark Christian College, M.M. from Pittsburg State, and a D.A. from Ball State in vocal performance. She is the director of Emmanuel Arts Academy and sponsors EC ACTS. She teaches applied voice, vocal pedagogy, history of church music, and musical theatre. In addition, she is very involved with the community.

“We are thrilled that Dr. Deborah Stark has been selected as one of this year's Governor's Teaching Fellows,” says Dr. John Henzel, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Emmanuel. “She is well deserving of this honor, and we know she will represent Emmanuel well.”

Emmanuel has a history of faculty invited into program: Dr. Mike Luper, Mrs. Paula Dixon, and Mrs. Jennifer Benson. In fact, Dixon and Benson are invited back each year to present to current Fellows.

“GTF gave me a renewed excitement and energy about discovering innovative ways to help my students learn,” says Paula Dixon, Associate Professor of Communication at Emmanuel. “Mrs. Benson and I are honored to go back each year to share with current Fellows about how we are taking what we learned at GTF and are successfully using that with our students.”

One thing is for sure, the faculty members at Emmanuel are passionate about educating their students, and that is a mission fit with GTF.