On Tuesday afternoon, Upper School English Teacher Richard Harris received the 2026 CATO Lifetime Achievement in Teaching Award from the Arts & Science Council, one of just three educators in the eleven-county Charlotte region to be so honored.

“Your dedication to your students and the impact you’ve made in your career is an inspiration,” said ASC representative Ashley Lam, Program Officer, Arts & Education Partnerships, at a ceremony in the lobby of the Inlustrate Orbem Building. She presented Harris with an artwork handmade by renowned local ceramicist Greg Harris, featuring the CATO seal — and an owl to symbolize the wisdom of an exemplary teacher.

Harris, who has taught at Charlotte Latin School for the past 26 years, was honored for a teaching practice that he says is built on four cornerstone values: cross-curricular lessons; experiential learning that brings the arts into immersive settings; student-centered teaching that builds community; and teaching as an avenue for cultural literacy and civic empathy. Surrounded by his colleagues, he quoted Henry David Thoreau (whose work he regularly teaches) as saying, “To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of the arts.”

“That’s what we teachers do every day, and that’s what you’ve done for me today by being here,” he told his peers in a short speech thanking his collaborators, his colleagues, and his students. “This is one for the team.”

“It doesn’t surprise me that when you’re being honored, you’ve mentioned everybody else,” Upper School History Teacher Chuck Edwards told Harris at the ceremony. “It speaks to the culture that you’ve helped create here, the excellent things you do in the classroom and the way you create literary and cultural moments that we can all buy into. You’ve done so much to elevate this place — congratulations.”