Teachers' Insurance Partners with Discovery Education to Launch Professional Growth Academy for New Jersey Educators

RED BANK, N.J., Sept. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Plymouth Rock Assurance — Teachers' Insurance Plan of NJ and Discovery Education have announced a new partnership to support New Jersey educators in accelerating student achievement. The partnership establishes the Professional Growth Academy to promote the professional development of teachers throughout the state. The Academy will utilize a combination of online and in-person events, aimed at providing New Jersey educators with access to state-of-the-art education training and content.

"Our new partnership underscores Teachers' Insurance Plan of NJ's appreciation for New Jersey's educational community. We strive to serve this special class of people with the highest level of care and generally advance the cause of education in the Garden State," said Marc V. Buro, president of Teachers Auto Insurance Company of New Jersey. "We're excited to bring this program to New Jersey's teachers.  With the largest professional learning community, Discovery Education is dedicated to inspiring learning through digital technology and we think New Jersey educators will be able to benefit from this new program."

The first component of the Professional Growth Academy is a series of monthly webinars slated to kick off in October 2012. These virtual seminars offered throughout the school year will equip New Jersey educators with valuable insights and information on a variety of topics, including tools and techniques for global collaboration, digital media in the classroom and more. The Professional Growth Academy webinar series is free to all educators in New Jersey.

Secondly, two highly touted 'Day of Discovery' professional development seminars will be awarded to the two partner public school districts with the most auto insurance quotes from Teachers' Insurance per number of employees. These daylong, in-person seminars are designed to help teachers succeed in today's classrooms. "This is another chance for us to reward our partner schools by bringing the experts at Discovery Education right to their doors," added Buro. 

"We are pleased to continue our support of New Jersey educators to provide them with specialized professional development opportunities designed to prepare them for teaching today's students," said Mary Rollins, vice president, Discovery Education. "With the ongoing transformation of schools into the digital age, it is more important than ever to equip educators with the resources they need to meet the needs of their students and engage them in learning."

For more information about this new partnership and to register for upcoming webinars, visit Discovery.NJTeachersQuote.com.

About Discovery Education
Discovery Education transforms classrooms, empowers teachers and captivates students by providing high quality, dynamic, digital content for grades K-12 and community colleges. Powered by Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the number one nonfiction media company in the world, Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-based digital media, professional development, assessment tools and a passionate educator network to support districts in accelerating student achievement. Discovery Education services like Discovery Education streaming, Discovery Education Techbooks and Discovery Education Higher Ed, are in more than half of all US schools and 35 countries around the world. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.

About Teachers' Insurance
Teachers Auto Insurance Company of New Jersey provides low rates and exclusive auto insurance services to active and retired employees of New Jersey licensed educational facilities, members of the New Jersey Parent Teacher Association (NJPTA), other members of the educational community, and their household family members who reside in New Jersey. Learn more at www.plymouthrocknj.com/teachers.

SOURCE Plymouth Rock Assurance