Kim Bearden is the cofounder, executive director, and language arts teacher at the highly-acclaimed Ron Clark Academy, an innovative middle school and educator training facility in Atlanta. Over the past eleven years, over 50,000 educators from 42 states and 22 countries have visited to observe Kim and her staff teach and to learn better ways to engage students, promote academic rigor, and create a climate and culture that promotes success. In 2016, Kim was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. Kim 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 to receive the Award for Excellence in Education, and she was Teacher of the Year in Cobb County, Georgia. Women Works Media Group has named her one of Georgia's Most Powerful and Influential Woman. She is also a keynote speaker with Premiere Speakers Bureau, and each year she speaks to thousands of educators across the country and around the world to inspire them and teach them methods for engaging and motivating students. Over the past thirty-one years, she has been a teacher, instructional lead teacher, curriculum director, school board member, staff development trainer, and middle school principal. Kim's bestselling book, Crash Course: The Life Lessons My Students Taught Me,was published in 2014. Her second book, Talk to Me: Find the Right Words to inspire, Encourage, and Get Things Done will be release in the summer of 20189. Kim resides near Atlanta with her husband and three adopted sons from South Africa. Her married daughter lives close by.
1987 University of Georgia, B.A.
