Pharr Elementary's Dunn is Top Teacher

A learning disability as a child was no obstacle to a teaching career for Now she also has a Teacher of the Year award to add to her achievements.

Dunn, a fifth-grade teacher at in Snellville, Ga., was chosen at the district's Thursday evening banquet to honor extraordinary educators.

She beat out . A selection committee previously narrowed the field from the 25 semifinalists, who had been selected from 129 local school Teachers of the Year.

Speaking to the audience from the podium, Dunn quoted Mahatma Ghandi: "Be the change you wish to see in the world." She also thanked her husband for "helping me juggle this crazy life."

Dunn, who is a wife and mother of triplets, was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) when she was a child. And, it took the care and concern of her family and teachers, two especially at , to show her she could succeed.

"Always believe in myself," an emotional Dunn said afterward when asked how she overcame dyslexia. Memories of students that "would laugh at me" drove her.

Now, more than a decade later, she is serving as a living example to her fifth-grade students that challenges need not define someone's path in life.

When previously asked about her chances of winning, Dunn, 30, said this:

"I don’t think of myself as something rare," she said. "I feel all the teachers are that way. You wouldn’t be in this position if it weren't for the kids."

As the district's Teacher of the Year, Dunn will receive an annual award of $1,000, and the use of a new car for three months.

GCPS Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks told the teachers after Thursday's ceremony, "You impact the future in unimaginable ways."

For more on Jennifer Dun, her life and reason for teaching,