José Marques, APR
Media Relations Manager
513.629.1448
Mailing Address:
Western & Southern Financial Group
Media Relations
Mail Station 90
400 Broadway Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Emily J. Carpenter-Pulskamp
Senior Media Relations Specialist (513) 629-1388
Western & Southern Recognizes Johnson with 2010 Dr. Lawrence C. Hawkins Educator of the Year Award
CINCINNATI — May 4, 2010 — Western & Southern Financial Group (Western & Southern) has announced that Nancy L. Johnson of the Turnaround Team for Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) has been named the 2010 Dr. Lawrence C. Hawkins Educator of the Year.
Johnson was chosen from a group of 20 finalists who were nominated by their peers for the award. She was recognized today with a plaque and a personal check for $10,000 during an evening ceremony at Western & Southern’s Guilford Institute.
Johnson was chosen by Western & Southern and CPS to receive the award in recognition of her lifelong dedication to teaching in a manner that creates a love of learning in children, as well as her ability to mentor teachers for greater success in the classroom. Her career at CPS spans more than 14 years, in which she has taught fourth and fifth grade English language arts and served as a school improvement coach for elementary initiative schools. The elementary initiative is a comprehensive strategy to provide intensive support to the district's 16 lowest performing elementary schools.
"Western & Southern has been a staunch supporter of Cincinnati Public Schools for decades. We firmly believe that a successful future for our great city lies in the hands of educators and their ability to inspire our children to achieve," said John F. Barrett, Western & Southern’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We are very pleased to present Nancy with this award to recognize her outstanding work in providing a solid foundation of education for the generations to come."
Western & Southern established the Dr. Lawrence C. Hawkins Educator of the Year Award in 2007 to inspire and reward excellence in CPS educators. The namesake of the award, Dr. Lawrence C. Hawkins, was a well-respected Cincinnati educator, former executive vice president of administration at the University of Cincinnati and former Western & Southern board member.
This distinguished award honors one educator each year who has elevated the educational process in public schools to an exceptional level through personal commitment, dedicated focus and outstanding results.
"The Dr. Lawrence C. Hawkins Educator of the Year Award exemplifies the passion that educators have for their work of giving children the foundation they need to have a positive impact on the community around them," stated Mary Ronan, superintendent of CPS. "Nancy gives selflessly of herself to the children and educators of CPS … she is well deserving of this award. I commend all of the educators and administrators that were nominated for the Hawkins Award … that in itself is an honor."
For more information on the Dr. Lawrence C. Hawkins Educator of the Year Award, please visit www.westernsouthern.com/hawkinsaward.
About Western & Southern Financial Group
Western & Southern Financial Group (Western & Southern) is a Cincinnati-based diversified family of financial services companies with assets owned, managed and under our care in excess of $44 billion as of Dec. 31, 2009. A Fortune 500 company, Western & Southern has received Standard & Poor’s AA+ Very Strong rating (one of the nine strongest life insurance groups in the world), A.M. Best’s A+ Superior rating, Fitch’s AA Very Strong rating and Moody’s Aa3 Excellent rating, all with a Stable outlook. With a heritage dating to 1888, the group’s affiliates include The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company; Western-Southern Life Assurance Company; Capital Analysts Incorporated;¹, ² Columbus Life Insurance Company; Eagle Realty Group, LLC; Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc.;¹ Fort Washington Savings Company;³ IFS Financial Services, Inc.; Integrity Life Insurance Company; The Lafayette Life Insurance Company; National Integrity Life Insurance Company; Touchstone Advisors, Inc.;¹ Touchstone Securities, Inc.;² and W&S Financial Group Distributors, Inc. For more information, visit www.westernsouthern.com. Western & Southern is the title sponsor of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women’s Open tennis tournaments.
1 A registered investment advisor.
2 A registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC.
3 Member FDIC.
Ratings refer to the financial strength of the insurance company and not to the safety, stability or performance of any investment product.
About Cincinnati Public Schools
Cincinnati Public Schools has 58 schools spread around a 90-square-mile district and is moving forward strongly on raising student achievement inside the classroom and rebuilding/renovating its school buildings into modern learning environments. Serving approximately 34,680 students in preschool through 12th grade, Cincinnati Public Schools is Ohio’s third-largest public school district and Hamilton County’s largest. Over recent years, the school district has demonstrated continuous improvement in overall district performance, reading and math scores, graduation rate, student attendance and high school academic performance. Cincinnati Public Schools has held the Continuous Improvement rating for five years in a row.
one of the eight highest-rated life insurance groups
in the world based on Standard & Poor's AA+ Very Strong rating.
Rating current as of November 30, 2010.