Elevating Student and Family Voices

Honored Schools is a new program from Honored aimed at recognizing great teachers, elevating student voices, and creating a consistent culture of teacher appreciation within school communities.

The Program

Through the Honored Schools online platform, students (and parents on behalf of younger students) within each participating school community are encouraged to recognize teachers by telling a story of how the teacher made a difference in their life. Every teacher who is recognized will receive their student’s story and will be publicly recognized at their school and on the Honored Schools website. Also, each recognition story serves as a nomination for the annual Honored Schools Life-Changing Teacher Award.

The Pilot

Honored Schools launched its pilot program in January 2020 with seven public schools and one public charter school in the Washington, DC metro area:

ALICE DEAL MIDDLE SCHOOL

District of Columbia
Public Schools

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS EDUCATION CAMPUS

District of Columbia
Public Schools

DIGITAL PIONEERS ACADEMY

District of Columbia Public Charter School

EXCEL ACADEMY PUBLIC SCHOOL

District of Columbia
Public Schools

KETCHAM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

District of Columbia
Public Schools

MARIE REED ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

District of Columbia
Public Schools

PAYNE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

District of Columbia
Public Schools

WILLIAM WIRT MIDDLE SCHOOL

Prince George’s County
Public Schools

In June 2020, Honored Schools will name its first Life-Changing Teacher Award recipient from these select schools.
In the 2020-2021 school year, Honored Schools will expand to serve more schools.

The Award

At the end of each school year, one teacher from each of the five Honored Schools regions of the U.S. will receive the prestigious Honored Schools Life-Changing Teacher Award, which includes $5,000 and national recognition. Award recipients will be selected from each region’s pool of submissions by Honored’s national panel of teachers and students, in consultation with Honored Schools principals. The selection criteria focuses on the important impact — personal, academic, and/or inspirational — the teacher has made on their students’ lives.

Our Team

Honored Schools is a new program from Honored, a national leader in teacher recognition.

Kaitlin
Pennington McVey

Senior Director of Program Strategy

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“My mother spent her career as a K-12 classroom teacher. She taught me that education is one of life’s greatest gifts and one of the only gifts that can’t be taken away. This lesson and my mother’s passion for teaching inspired me to spend my career striving to ensure that all children receive an excellent education. Teachers like my mother and countless other influential educators are the most important factors in meeting this goal.”

Kaitlin Pennington McVey is the Senior Director of Program Strategy at Honored. Previously, Kate worked at Bellwether Education Partners where she conducted education policy analysis and research and advised education sector organizations on a variety of strategic and operational issues. Earlier in her career, Kate held roles at the Center for American Progress and Colorado Succeeds, and served as a fellow in Colorado Senator Mike Johnston’s office. She began her career teaching 6th grade English in Washington, DC through Teach For America. Kate graduated summa cum laude from Syracuse University with degrees in journalism and political science and holds a M.Ed. from George Mason University.

Brooklyn
Batey

Director of Advocacy and Partnerships

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“Mr. Pritchard was my math teacher but taught me so much more than that. Through his actions, he taught me empathy, justice, and integrity. He used math as a way to describe equity and equality throughout the world. He not only taught me how to excel in the classroom but how to excel on the field, in my friendships, and within my community.”

Brooklyn began her work in education as an 8th grade English teacher in Denver, Colorado. Motivated by teacher voice and the strong impact teachers have on student academic success and social and emotional development, she spent her summers working in the offices of State and US senators advocating for bipartisan ways to uplift teacher recruitment and retention efforts. Most recently she worked at EducationCounsel in Washington, DC, where she engaged with various stakeholders in organizations at the local, state, and federal level. Brooklyn graduated from the University of Denver in 2016 with a BA in Psychology and Socio-Legal Studies. She graduated from Relay Graduate School of Education in 2018 with a Master’s in Teaching and most recently received her Master’s in Education Policy and Advocacy from Georgetown University.

Is your school or district interested in participating in Honored Schools?
Reach out to hello@honoredschools.org

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