Top Teacher:Frank Harris Named National Finalist for Everyday Hero Award

Frank Harris, a Winthrop Resident, has been named a national finalist for the American Federation of Teachers Everyday Hero Award for his work as a teacher at the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers in Boston.  The AFT has 1.6 million members and over 3,000 local unions. He was nominated for the award by a fellow teacher and was then chosen by a committee of the AFT from hundreds of nominations. Five finalist in the teacher category are being voted on by the general public through an internet voting process. Frank is well known in Winthrop for his volunteer work in Winthrop Little League. A longtime coach and former board member, he still coaches the league’s Challenger Program. The Challenger Program is for children with disabilities, allowing them to play baseball and wear the Winthrop uniform like any other child. Frank Harris started the program 12 years ago during one of his terms as President of the League.

You can vote for Frank at http://www.aft.org/vote-now-your-aft-everyday-hero or get a link on the main page of www.aft.org. Anyone is allowed to vote. Voting will close on May 29th.

Write-up on AFT site:

Frank Harris, Teacher, Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers, Boston, Boston Teachers Union

Frank Harris has skill when it comes to seeing value in places the world sometimes overlooks. That was certainly the case in 1999, when this owner of a computer consulting business decided to change course, taking on the tough challenge of being a teacher at a time when the world seemed fixed on all things dot.com. “I was always a lifelong learner,” Harris explains. “It was just a great fit for me.”

Fast-forward 18 years, and it’s clear the fit has worked not just for the statistics teacher but also for the entire community at Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers, a union charter school on the campus of Northeastern University. It is Harris’ professional home and a building where he has worn many hats over the years—mentoring students in the school science fair, starting and coaching the school’s basketball team, and serving as the school’s union representative, to name just a few.

Case in point: Harris helped start and administer a small scholarship at the school, a program that has offered about a dozen awards up to $1,000. The program is named for his father, Edward Harris, and his mother-in-law, Kathleen