New Award for K-12 Innovation, Nominate Someone Who Has Made a Difference

By Tegan Firth

December 3, 2004

Recognize and reward the most creative people in K-12 education, those individuals making a difference in the lives of children in your community, by nominating or encouraging people to apply for one of Cable’s Leaders In Learning Awards. The new awards program is looking for inventive, innovative classroom educators, administrators, community leaders, policy makers or anyone else who has had a significant positive impact on education.

If you know a deserving candidate, you may make a nomination or encourage him or her to apply at www.leadersinlearningawards.org, from now until January 31, 2005.

"Only rarely do education leaders – in the classroom, in the central office, in the halls of government – get the recognition and credit they deserve for the differences they make in children’s lives," said Douglas Levin, Education Policy Director of Cable in the Classroom, which created and administers the award program. "We want to offer people the chance to honor these invaluable contributions, to demonstrate the community’s appreciation, and to share this good work with others around the nation."

Each awardee will receive a $3,000 grant and a trip to Washington, DC for three days of professional learning opportunities, networking and celebration, including a televised awards banquet and gala, with guests to include honorees, policymakers, government officials, education leaders, and celebrities. To give the award lasting value in the life of every awardee, each will become a part of a specialized community of innovators, with the opportunity to continue learning from one another and to include others in an ongoing conversation about their vision for education.

A dozen Leaders In Learning Award-winners will be selected in four categories:

•General Excellence - for those who have used generally excellent vision, innovation, action, and transformation to produce improvements in K-12 education;

•Pushing the Envelope - for those pushing the envelope and redefining the education frontier by using cable content and technology with vision, innovation, action, and transformation for the greatest possible impact on K-12 education;

•Policymaker - for a federal, state, or local policymaker whose vision and innovation have contributed to a transformation of K-12 education in the broadest sense;

•Media Literacy - for an individual who has used vision, innovation, action, and transformation to advance media literacy skills, awarded in partnership with the National PTA.

Award winners will be announced in May 2005. Application and nomination forms and criteria are available at: www.leadersinlearningawards.org.