PPGJLI Announces Excellence in Education Award Recipients for 2019

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - Sept. 7, 2019 - PRLog -- Five outstanding educators will be honored with Excellence in Education Awards during the 3^rd annual Community Celebration. The event is conducted by the Planting People Growing Justice ™ Leadership Institute (PPGJLI) founded by Dr. Artika Tyner.

"We'll be presenting our Excellence in Education Awards to five people in recognition of their outstanding contributions and service to the community in promoting education and planting the seeds of change," said Tyner.

The community celebration will take place on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. The event will be held at Highland Park High School, located at 1015 Snelling Av. S. St. Paul, MN. Admission for the event is $10 and tickets are now available for purchase online.

Among those that will be honored will be Nathaniel Khaliq, youth advisor of the St. Paul NAACP Youth Branch, and his wife, Victoria Davis, co-founder of BNV Properties. Khaliq is a former St. Paul NAACP president and coached youth basketball at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in the Summit-University area. Davis has been on the forefront of civil rights issues with her husband and founded BNV Properties to provide affordable housing.

Kathleen Hubbard Ismail, founder and president of the Ghana Scholarship Fund, will also be awarded. The non-profit organization provides scholarships to high school and university students from rural communities in Ghana. She's the author of "You Can Too."

Also named for the award is Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen, the associate professor of the Master of Library and Information Science program at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN. She's also an author and serving as the chair of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association's Literature Awards Committee for Children's Literature and has research interests in social justice and the representation of the Korean diaspora in children's literature.

Rounding out the award winners will be Terese Shimshock, principal of St. Peter Claver Catholic School and an educator dedicated to every aspect of children's learning. She has a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction K-12, an Educational Specialist Degree, and holds a Catholic Education Leadership Certificate.

The Excellence in Education Awards presented during the Community Celebration (https://www.facebook.com/events/423548641576845/) honors individuals that are making major contributions in the field of education, diversity, and social justice. The event will feature a variety of community-based activities and Dr. Tyner will be available to autograph copies of her children's books.