Sidebar:

The Golden Apple honourees were:

The Chamber of Commerce Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching was held on Saturday, 20 June, 2009, at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. Now in its third consecutive year, the annual event recognises the teaching profession and pays tribute to educators throughout the Cayman Islands.
 
Beginning in January, students, parents and teacher colleagues were given the opportunity to nominate those who they believed made an impact on their life or the lives of their students. Over 1,000 heartfelt and professional recommendations were submitted representing 200 educators.
 
The selection committee, comprising representatives from the Partners in Education, the Chamber of Commerce Council and the Ministry of Education, assessed all of the nominations and selected three finalists in each category. The three nominees were interviewed and the results tallied by independent auditor KPMG.  The results were not made known until the night of the black tie event.
 
The hosts for the evening were past Golden Apple Recipients, June South Robinson and Elroy Bryan. South Robinson was the 2007 Recipient of the Golden Apple Award for a Middle School Teacher in a Public School and Bryan was the recipient of the 2008 Golden Apple Award for a Primary School Teacher in a Public School.
 
During his opening remarks, Chamber CEO Wil Pineau commented, “The Chamber of Commerce is very pleased to lead the way in recognizing the importance of education and the tremendous resource we have in our teaching professionals – the everyday heroes who make the crucial difference in our children’s lives.”
 
During the Pre Awards Ceremony, Minister for Education Rolston Anglin and Chamber President Stuart Bostock presented the 21 honourees with a crystal apple and expressed their admiration for touching and enriching the lives of others. Bostock said, “The contributions of these teachers are an integral part of our students’ success in life and I am honoured to help recognise and celebrate all of their accomplishments. We appreciate your tireless efforts and hope you continue to find ways to bring out the best in all students.”