--- title: SR 180. Smith, Carmen; commend collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sr180 cite_as: SR 180, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr180 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr180.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr180/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70274 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/sr179.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr181.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 94 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr180.md?full=1 bill_number: SR 180 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/SR180/2025 upstream_id: 1968191 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - teacher recognition - Gwinnett County Public Schools - Sugar Hill Elementary School - education honors --- # SR 180. Smith, Carmen; commend ## Text Senate Resolution 180 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 Carmen Smith, Sugar Hill Elementary School's 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year; and for other purposes. WHEREAS, Carmen Smith has been teaching second through fourth grade advanced content math and enrichment math to Sugar Hill students at Sugar Hill Elementary School in Gwinnett County for 18 years and has 29 years of teaching experience; and WHEREAS, she is a highly respected second through fourth grade teacher within the school community and among her peers and has been recognized as Sugar Hill 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 Carmen Smith, Sugar Hill 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 Carmen Smith. ## 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 Senate resolution commends Carmen Smith, a Gwinnett County teacher at Sugar Hill Elementary School, for being named the school's 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year. ### Plain-language summary This is a ceremonial resolution from the Georgia Senate, not a change to state law. It recognizes Carmen Smith, who has taught second through fourth grade advanced and enrichment math at Sugar Hill Elementary School in Gwinnett County for 18 years and has 29 years of teaching experience overall. 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 Carmen Smith as Sugar Hill Elementary School's 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year on behalf of the Georgia Senate. - Directs the Secretary of the Senate to prepare and distribute a copy of the resolution to Carmen Smith. - Recites her teaching background, including 18 years at Sugar Hill Elementary and 29 years of total teaching experience. ### Who it affects The resolution directly names and honors Carmen Smith, a teacher at Sugar Hill Elementary School in Gwinnett County. It also touches Gwinnett County Public Schools and the Georgia Senate, which is issuing the honor. ### Why it matters The resolution carries no legal or financial effect and changes no law. Its practical impact is symbolic: it gives official Senate recognition to a local teacher's work, which can be shared with her school community as a form of public honor. ### Key provisions - The whereas clauses describe Carmen Smith's 18 years teaching math at Sugar Hill Elementary School and her 29 years of total teaching experience. - The resolved clause formally commends her 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 make a copy of the resolution available for distribution to her. ## 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/70274 > The history, votes, and amendments (94 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr180.md?full=1