Kimberly Bearden is the cofounder, executive director, and language arts teacher at the Ron Clark Academy, an innovative teacher training facility and middle school for Atlanta’s inner-city youth. Ms. Bearden was selected from over 70,000 nominations to be honored as the Disney American Teacher Awards Outstanding Middle School Humanities Teacher. The Milken Family Foundation selected her as one of 155 teachers from across the nation to receive the Award for Excellence in Education, and she was the chosen from among 7000 teachers as Teacher of the Year in Cobb County, Georgia. Ms. Bearden is a member of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2008, and she is a former Finalist for Georgia Teacher of the Year and the Phenomenal Woman of Character Award. Over the past twenty years, she has been a teacher, instructional lead teacher, curriculum director, school board member, staff development trainer, and middle school principal.
Known for her creativity, Kim teaches the curriculum in innovative and inspiring ways. Her classroom has been transformed into a beach, Mt. Olympus, a poetry coffeehouse, and a mountain retreat. Her students have experienced thunderstorms, an Italian restaurant, a hospital emergency room, a colonial village, and life on a fictitious planet without ever leaving the classroom! She has held a Fashion Extravaganza to teach descriptive writing and has created Survivor tribal challenges and the All-Star Punctuation Bowl to teach grammar. Kim often teaches concepts through songs, kinesthetic games, and unique teaching strategies that motivate even the most restless learners. Her students consistently score among the highest in the state on standardized tests; she has proven that the required curriculum can be taught in a way that reinforces academic rigor while making learning an adventure.
Kim has taught countless workshops to teachers on topics such as creativity, brain-based research, the Multiple Intelligences, authentic assessment, technology integration, and learning styles. Her speeches are often interactive as well as informative, and she is able to draw from her abundant experiences to customize her presentations to the needs of any kind of audience.
Kim is married to her husband, Scotty, and she has an eighteen-year-old daughter, Madison, who gives her firsthand advice about the needs and interests of learners. Together with her family, Kim Bearden resides in a suburb of Atlanta.
To learn more about Kim and the Ron Clark Academy, visit www.ronclarkacademy.com.
