The Professional Association of Georgia Educators Foundation honored Gwinnett County Public Schools and superintendent/CEO J. Alvin Wilbanks on Monday at its annual A PAGE Turning Event.
Wilbanks has led the state’s largest school system for 20 years and has worked in education for more than 50 years. Gwinnett schools enroll more than 178,000 students, making it the 13th largest public school system in the country.
In a release, PAGE said Wilbanks deserved the honor for his impact on education, educators and students in Georgia.
“Wilbanks has done a great deal in his 50-plus years in public education to merit recognition. Three Georgia governors and two U.S. secretaries of education have called upon him to help to craft significant education reform legislation. In 2005 he was named Georgia’s ‘Superintendent of the Year,’” PAGE said in the release.
Wilbanks joined GCPS in 1984 as the founding president of Gwinnett Technical College. He added the job of Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources and Continuous Improvement before he was promoted to superintendent in 1996. Prior to joining Gwinnett County, he worked for the Georgia Department of Education and in DeKalb County.
GCPS twice won the Broad Prize for Urban Education under Wilbanks. The Broad Prize recognizes urban school districts that do the most to improve opportunities for ethnic minorities and low-income students.
More than 600 people, an event record, saw Wilbanks receive the award from PAGE executive director Dr. Allene Magill at Duluth’s Infinite Energy Forum. Among them was one of Wilbanks’ own high school teachers from Commerce High, John Yates.
The previous 11 award winners were business or government leaders, including Curley M. Donavan of Georgia-Pacific, David Ratcliffe of the Southern Company, Arthur Blank, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson and U.S. Rep. John Lewis.
The event and its namesake award honor leaders from business, philanthropy, government and education for support for public education in Georgia. PAGE is a statewide professional association of more than 91,000 educators, administrators and support workers.
