--- title: SR 179. Heck, Emily; commend collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sr179 cite_as: SR 179, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr179 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr179.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr179/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70271 date: 2025-02-13 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr178.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr180.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 94 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr179.md?full=1 bill_number: SR 179 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: resolution status_date: 2025-02-13 last_action: Senate Read and Adopted sponsors: - Shawn Still - Clint Dixon - Sheikh Rahman - Nikki Merritt - Randal Mangham - Bill Cowsert text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SR179/2025 upstream_id: 1968081 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - teacher recognition - Gwinnett County Schools - Georgia Senate resolution - education honors --- # SR 179. Heck, Emily; commend ## Text Senate Resolution 179 By: Senators Still of the 48th, Dixon of the 45th, Rahman of the 5th, Merritt of the 9th, Mangham of the 55th and others A RESOLUTION Commending Emily Heck, White Oak Elementary School's 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year; and for other purposes. WHEREAS, Emily Heck has been teaching kindergarten through fifth grade health at White Oak Elementary School in Gwinnett County for 16 years and has 28 years of teaching experience; and WHEREAS, she is a highly respected kindergarten through fifth grade teacher within the school community and among her peers and has been recognized as White Oak Elementary School's Teacher of the Year for 2024-2025; and WHEREAS, she has spent endless hours both inside and outside the classroom teaching students and empowering them to think freely, helping them develop skills such as questioning, provoking, and challenging all the things presented to them; and WHEREAS, she has engaged her students by producing innovative lessons that have real-life applications and has thus promoted learning to her students as a lifelong endeavor; and WHEREAS, the purpose of the Teacher of the Year award is to honor educators who have made an exceptional difference in the lives of their students and provided inspiration to their peers, recognizing and promoting excellence in education within Gwinnett County Public Schools and helping to promote an educated and vibrant community; and WHEREAS, in recognition of such remarkable contributions to the education and welfare of Georgia's students, it is abundantly fitting and proper for this body to honor the extraordinary accomplishments and academic achievements of this outstanding educator. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body commend Emily Heck, White Oak Elementary School's 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year, and express their most sincere best wishes for continued success. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed to make an appropriate copy of this resolution available for distribution to Emily Heck. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia Senate resolution commends Emily Heck, a Gwinnett County teacher named White Oak Elementary School's 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year, for her work in the classroom. ### Plain-language summary This resolution is a ceremonial honor from the Georgia Senate rather than a change to state law. It recognizes Emily Heck, who has taught kindergarten through fifth grade health at White Oak Elementary School in Gwinnett County for 16 years and has 28 years of teaching experience overall, for being named the school's Teacher of the Year for 2024-2025. The resolution describes her work engaging students with innovative, real-life lessons and helping them develop critical thinking skills. It formally commends her on behalf of the Senate and directs the Secretary of the Senate to prepare a copy of the resolution for her. ### What it does - Formally commends Emily Heck as White Oak Elementary School's 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year on behalf of the Georgia Senate. - States the Senate's best wishes for her continued success as an educator. - Directs the Secretary of the Senate to prepare and distribute a copy of the resolution to Emily Heck. - Makes no changes to Georgia law, funding, or policy since it is a ceremonial resolution rather than legislation. ### Who it affects This resolution directly names and honors Emily Heck, a teacher at White Oak Elementary School in Gwinnett County. It does not create obligations for schools, students, or the public; its only formal effect is directing the Secretary of the Senate to distribute a copy to her. ### Why it matters The resolution has no legal or financial effect on Georgians. Its significance is symbolic: it places the Georgia Senate's formal recognition of Heck's teaching career and her Teacher of the Year honor into the public record. ### Key provisions - The resolution's whereas clauses describe Heck's 16 years teaching health at White Oak Elementary and her 28 years of overall teaching experience. - The resolved clause commends Heck as the school's 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year and wishes her continued success. - A further resolved clause directs the Secretary of the Senate to provide a copy of the resolution to Heck. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-02-13) - Last action: Senate Read and Adopted (2025-02-13) - Sponsors: Shawn Still, Clint Dixon, Sheikh Rahman, Nikki Merritt, Randal Mangham, Bill Cowsert - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70271 > The history, votes, and amendments (94 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr179.md?full=1