Sharon M Draper

Sharon Draper is a professional educator as well as an accomplished writer.
She has been honored as the National Teacher of the Year, is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Literary Award, and is a New York Times bestselling author.

Mrs. Draper was selected as Ohio’s Outstanding High School Language Arts Educator, Ohio Teacher of the Year, and was chosen as a NCNW Excellence in Teaching Award winner. Draper is a Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award winner, and was the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence for the Taft Museum. She is a YWCA Career Woman of Achievement, and is the recipient of the Dean’s Award from Howard University School of Education, the Pepperdine University Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Marva Collins Education Excellence Award, and the Governor’s Educational Leadership Award. Last year she was named Ohio Pioneer in Education by the Ohio State Department of Education.

After becoming of the first teachers in the nation to achieve the National Board Certification in English/Language Arts, she was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Mrs. Draper is currently on the Board of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. Her award-winning essay on education, "The Touch of a Teacher," was published by the National Governor’s Association in What Governors Need to know about Education.

Actively involved in encouraging and motivating all teachers and their students as well, Draper has authored two books for educators, Teaching from the Heart and Not Quite Burned Out, but Crispy around the Edges. Mrs. Draper has worked all over the United States, as well as in Russia, Ghana, Togo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Bermuda, and Guam, spreading the word about the power of accomplished teaching and excellence in education. She has been honored at the White House several times and was chosen as one of only four authors in the country to speak at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C, and to represent the United States in Moscow at their Book Festival.

Her literary recognition began when, as a challenge from one of her students, she entered and won first prize in a literary contest, for which she was awarded $5000 and the publication of her short story, "One Small Torch." She has published numerous poems, articles, and short stories in a variety of literary journals.

She is an active participant in the activities of the YWCA of Cincinnati, a member of the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Reading Association, Top Ladies of Distinction, and Links, Incorporated. Ms. Draper travels extensively and has been a guest on television and radio programs throughout the country, discussing issues of literature, reading, and education. She is an accomplished public speaker who addresses educational and literary groups of all ages, both nationally and internationally, with entertaining readings of her poetry and novels, as well as enlightening instructional presentations. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and a golden retriever named Honey.