Bridgette Fortenberry won the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Leadership Development Award supported by the NCTE and Prentice Hall-Pearson Education.  A teacher at Baton Rouge Magnet High School, Fortenberry was nominated by the Louisiana Council of Teachers of English, an affiliate of NCTE, because she has never attended an NCTE convention and has met the following criteria:  one to five years of teaching experience, demonstrated capacity for professional leadership, and willingness to serve the affiliate during the 2004-2005 academic year. 

The program, developed to nurture new leaders, provides early career teachers with $500 to attend the NCTE Annual Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, November 18-23, 2004.  Fortenberry, along with 33 other winners from across the country will be honored at the Affiliate Breakfast at the convention on Sunday, November 21.

The NCTE, with 60,000 individual and institutional members worldwide, is dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education.

As a stipulation of the award, Fortenberry and the Louisiana Council of Teachers of English negotiated a term of service to the affiliate which includes presenting at an affiliate conference, writing an article for an affiliate publication, membership on the affiliate board, assisting a board member, and/or assisting with a workshop for new teachers.