Posted by Chiara Wegener
We all know that teachers are amazing people — after all, they are the ones shaping the minds of our future world leaders!
At the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, we’ve had the chance to see the impact of many individual educators, but have also seen the powerful force of teachers working together and advocating for innovation outside of their individual classrooms. Our O’Toole Awards are meant to recognize those educators who have not only led innovations in their own classrooms but have served as leaders, advocates, and champions for equitable, student-centered approaches to learning at scale. Last year, we honored 12 amazing educators from across the region who are doing things like serving as student-centered coaches, leading professional learning series, and creating video series around student-centered learning.
This year, we are again asking the public to nominate teacher leaders who are advocates for student-centered approaches to learning. We’ve also been doing some work internally at Nellie Mae to learn about the ways that student-centered approaches to learning can address inequities in education. This has been part of a bigger process at the foundation to assess our organizational strategy through the lens of racial equity. So this year, we are also asking teachers how they are addressing inequities, including racial inequities, through their advocacy of student-centered approaches.
From now until April 27th, we’re accepting nominations for our Lawrence W. O’Toole Teacher Leadership Awards. We’ll select up to 12 winners from across New England to receive grants of $15,000 each to use to advance student-centered approaches to learning at scale. Award recipients will be recognized at an award ceremony in Boston on November 2nd. To nominate a teacher (even if it’s yourself!) read more about the process here.