Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh was a special education/elementary educator in Salt Lake City, Utah for 32 years. In 2010, Sharon was elected, in a statewide vote, as the President of the Utah Education Association and served in this position for a total of six years. She has more than 38 years of experience in public education.
Gallagher-Fishbaugh is a National Board Certified Teacher, a distinction earned by just 112,000 teachers nationwide who meet rigorous teaching criteria set by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). She is the current vice-chair of the NBPTS Board of Directors.
Sharon is the 2009 Utah Teacher of the Year and is a recipient of the 2009 California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence and the 2009 Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence. In April 2010, the NEA Foundation awarded her its top honor, the $25,000 NEA Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence.
Sharon has participated in the NEA Foundation Global Learning Fellowship, and traveled with the fellowship to schools in Peru and China.
Sharon is a member of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY), and the Utah State Teachers of the Year (UTSTOY) chapter. Sharon has served on many national commissions and task forces including the Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching, The Council of Accreditation of Teacher Preparation Programs, the Teacher Residency Task Force, the Teacher Accountability Task Force and the Governor’s Education Excellence Commission.
Sharon received her Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education/Elementary Education from Loretto Heights College, Denver, Colorado and her Master’s Degree in Education/National Board Certified Teacher Leadership from National University, La Jolla, California.
Follow her on Twitter @SharonGF_NBCT
