And the Peary Award Goes To...

This time of year, Hollywood catches our attention with the glitz and glam of the red carpet and the accolades of awards season. But we felt there were other outstanding achievements that needed to be recognized — the REAL game-changers, rockstars, and history-makers of the world. You!

We know how much hard work teachers put in every day, often without recognition, so we created the Peary Awards to celebrate outstanding achievements of educators and schools who embody Pear Deck’s values. Our six award categories are based on our Pear Deck Teaching Truths and mission, recognizing educators who create opportunities for every student to engage with teachers, classmates, and new ideas, every day. In December, we asked our community to submit nominations for teachers, school leaders, teams, and schools that stand out from the rest. Our inbox was filled with stories about educators from around North America who make their colleagues, students, and their school community feel lucky to know them and work with them.

Next, we asked a panel of anonymous Pear Deck Coaches to help us review all the entries and pick the five finalists in each category who best represented the category description. (We don’t envy their task — there are so many deserving educators we wanted to recognize!) The 30 finalist entries included amazing stories of leadership and passion, such as…

(You can read all finalist entries on our website here.)

To determine our winners, we turned it over to you; it seemed only fitting to have the winners be lifted up for recognition by their peers. Through our Student-Paced Pear Deck, we collected votes from nearly 4,000 people! At the close of voting on January 24, the finalist with the most votes in each category was declared the winner.

Our 2020 Peary Award winners are:

Tackle Tenacity

Jenna Winter, Kay Granger Elementary School // Fort Worth, TX

Excavate & Expand

Jessica Parks, Redhill Lutheran School // Tustin, CA

Anticipate Awesome

3rd Grade Team at Sendera Ranch Elementary:
Amanda Aslin, Jennifer Webster, Amanda Waddell, Sandra Dougherty, and Katie Delgado // Haslet, TX

Cultivate Compassion

Shyloh-Dawn Bonogofski, Eagle Butte High School // Alberta

Hand It Over

Kim Spring, Nance Elementary // Fort Worth, TX

Outstanding School Culture

Whiteside Elementary // Lubbock, TX

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A big congratulations again to all of our nominees, finalists, and winners! We thoroughly enjoyed getting to learn a little more about each of you and are proud to have you as part of our Pear Deck community. We’ll see you all next year for the Peary Awards 2021!

Illustration by Kate Moore