In 1963, the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation initiated the Jennings Scholar Lecture Program to honor outstanding classroom teachers in line with one of the Foundation's major objectives of improving the quality of elementary and secondary education in Ohio. It has become the longest running and one of the most gratifying projects the Foundation has sponsored. Well over 20,000 Ohio teachers have become Jennings Scholars.

For this program, the state is divided into six areas, with two lecture series each year. This year's lectures (2009-2010) are held at Bowling Green State University and Ohio University. Next year's will be held at Capital University and The University of Dayton and the following year at Cuyahoga Community College and Kent State University.

In each area, the program recognizes about 200 outstanding teachers. They are invited to a series of six lectures by major personalities of widely different backgrounds. At the conclusion of the program, the teachers receive a bound volume of the lectures and a silver dish as an emblematic award.

There is considerable evidence of teacher interest and appreciation based on the fact that the majority of teachers who attended all of the lectures continue to return for the Alumni program.

We are pleased that the most significant outcome of the lecture series is the effect that the lectures have on the lives of the teachers and how this experience has been shared with their hundreds of thousands of students throughout Ohio.

Below are the dates and speakers for the 2009-2010 Lecture Series:

Bowling Green State University September 12, 2009   Ray Guarendi October 10, 2009   Cea Cohen-Elliot November 7, 2009   Dave Caperton February 27, 2010   Bruce Boguski March 27, 2010   Dave Leedy April 24, 2010   Jim Mahoney

Ohio University September 12, 2009   Jim Mahoney October 10, 2009   Dave Caperton November 14, 2009   Cea Cohen-Elliot March 13, 2010   Harvey Alston April 10, 2010   Ray Guarendi May 15, 2010   Mike Thomson