9/30/2021
Education and Outreach
After 20 months of overcoming hurdles during the pandemic, teachers deserve some applause.
Community members can now give them just that.
The Smith Center just announced the opening of nominations for its seventh-annual Heart of Education Awards, honoring outstanding Clark County School District (CCSD) teachers.
This comes at a meaningful time, as teachers continue to help students transition to in-school routine. During the distance learning of the past year, Southern Nevadans witnessed educators rising to the occasion, taking on unprecedented challenges with creativity and enthusiasm.
The nomination process takes just five minutes, and can change a teacher’s life.
Past honoree Richard Knoeppel says simply being nominated made his tireless work as an educator feel valued.
“There are millions of teachers each year who never receive any praise for the job they do. Taking the time to say thanks is important,” Knoeppel says. “(Being nominated) was a validation that I was making a difference.”
Cash Awards and More
Hundreds of award finalists will be recognized in the spring of 2022, with details to be announced at a later date.
Thanks to support from The Rogers Foundation, the top 20 teachers will each receive a $5,000 cash award, as well as a medallion and a $1,000 donation to their school.
All finalists will also receive swag bags with special gifts from a variety of Southern Nevada businesses.
Receiving a Heart of Education Award felt especially important to past honoree Shawn Kelly, he says, because the nominations reflect each teacher’s true impact.
“I think what makes the Heart of Education Awards matter is not the cash given to teachers, but the way (this awards program) recognizes educators,” he says. “It’s based upon recognition from peers and community members.”
The nomination period ends at 5 PM on January 21.
The Smith Center will invite nominated educators to share personal accounts of how they positively impacted their students, classrooms and communities. A group of community leaders and education experts will review all submissions.
The Smith Center, a nonprofit organization, created the Heart of Education Awards in 2015 to promote recruitment and retention of public-school teachers. The awards program is made possible by a long-term commitment from The Rogers Foundation.
For many teachers, these awards come as a “great bonus” for doing the work they love, says past honoree Diane Koutsulis.
“None of us go into this career thinking that we would win awards, or be recognized in this way, or that we would receive financial rewards,” she says. “Honestly, the work that we do is so gratifying that we forget about the extrinsic rewards.”