Mike and Leslie McPherson, both former educators in both the private and public sectors, were "shocked" by the award, and said they consider it a "great honor."
The McPhersons were the local public face for the pro-amendment side, representing the winning campaign Families for Better Public Schools.
The amendment, which guaranteed the power of the state to authorize charter schools requested by local communities and establish a commission to consider applications for them, was approved by voters, with 58 percent of Georgia voters voting in favor.
Locally, the numbers were closer, with the winning pro-amendment side garnering 53 percent of the vote.
The couple championed the amendment, saying it would be a "win" for students, teachers and the nation at large.
"A lot of people say it's all about local control — that if we pass this amendment, we'll lose local control," Mike McPherson said a few weeks before the vote. "But independent charter schools are run by parents and community organizations. What can be more local than that? There are none better to run our local schools than our parents."
As for the process of being given the award, each of the "Activist of the Week" recipients throughout the year are nominated.
Carolyn Henderson, co-chair of the Carroll County Tea Party Association, said the McPhersons were passionate about the issue.
"This is a wonderful award showing the power of the individual to make a difference in the world we live in," Henderson said.
In a statement from the AFP's Georgia chapter, the McPhersons are praised for standing for "economic freedom in their own unique way."
"Few [activists] worked harder than the tag-team duo of Mike and Leslie McPherson," the statement reads. "Whether it was criss-crossing Georgia to host school-choice townhall meetings, jumping on bus after bus to knock on doors during the Adopt-a-State project or becoming a citizen lobbyist at the Georgia state Capitol, Mike and Leslie were always ready for the fight."
Leslie McPherson said she was "surprised" to receive the award because the organization attracts so many hard workers statewide, but that their affection to keep discussions issues-oriented set them apart.
"We were not working for a particular candidate when we knocked on doors or made calls," Leslie McPherson said. "We might have told people how a candidate has voted, but we never influenced them to vote for our person. We just told them about the benefits of fiscal responsibility and a free-market economy, or what we call 'good capitalism.'"
As for the conferences and townhall meetings on school choice the McPhersons organized and attended this year, Leslie said they didn't go "because they needed a vacation."
"Those bus rides were not fun," she said. "We were not there because we were getting paid, and that's a good thing about volunteers. The passing of the amendment has validated for us the fact that one or two people can do a lot."
The school choice advocate said she has no statistics to back up her claim, but she and her husband feel like they made a difference in 2012.
"This award and the amendment's passing encourages us and others to not quite — to keep fighting the battles we choose, even though the results may not be completely in our hands," she said.
Americans for Prosperity is a national conservative political advocacy group headquartered in Arlington, Va. The Georgia chapter is based in Hiram, with Virginia Galloway serving as state director.
AFP's stated mission is "educating citizens about economic policy and mobilizing citizens as advocates in the public policy process." The group played a major role in the Republican Party's 2010 takeover of the U.S. House of Representative, and has been called one of the most powerful conservative organizations in electoral politics.
There are more than 56,000 members of AFP Georgia.
"For their remarkable devotion to the cause of economic freedom, we are proud to congratulate Mike and Leslie McPherson as our AFP GA Activists of the Year," the statement reads.
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