<p>Even in the best of schools, many educators do not get the credit they deserve for the effort and expertise they bring to the classroom and the community .Fortunately, there are a number of organizations who do all they can to recognize and encourage our excellent educators.Founded in 1990 by long-time educator Harriet Goldin, the Goldin Foundation for Excellence in Education (http://www.goldinfoundation.org) is focused on recognizing great educators in MA and far beyond. The Foundation also works to help keep these great teachers teaching and to encourage potentially great teachers to enter the field.profession.When she created the Foundation with the support of her husband and children, Goldin says that she was “very aware of the financial issues facing schools that were leading to…layoffs of many educators, and reducing options for students such as electives and other enrichment opportunities.Citing low morale, Goldin took it upon herself to create a new means of encouraging excellent educators to continue to encourage and support their students."I felt the need to give back to the teaching profession," Goldin recalls. "The design of the Foundation is to recognize excellence of educators who, nominated by their peers, have made significant positive impact on students. It is also vehicle to: show respect for educators, retain quality teachers and share their best practices, and inspire others to be educators."Originally established in coordination with The Education Cooperative (TEC), a consortium of 15 public school systems, the Foundation has since expanded to include additional school systems in MA as well as some in CA and TX. Each year, participating districts are encouraged to nominate superlative educators. The selected award recipients a set of superlative educators who share their projects, visions, and insights at an annual regional Goldin Foundation Educators Forum; and each receives a cash award.Among the recent winners from Boston are Joy Bautista, Janet Ferone, Leslie Gant, Mark Lonergan, Deidre O'Halloran, and Marlene Veldwisch.According to her nominators, Bautista (who teaches science at Boston Arts Academy) is "an innovative, interdisciplinary teacher" who believes that problem-based, inquiry-based learning "helps to level the playing field for urban students." In addition to teaching, Bautista was cited for her facility with progressive educational models and her in-class coaching talents. Fellow educator Kimberly Conrad credits Bautista with inspiring her to teach and with being a trusted mentor early on. Among Bautista';'s award-worthy accolades were her piloting the Museum of Science's engineering curriculum, collaborating with Children’s Hospital to test a curriculum that had been designed by the the National Institute of Health (NIH), and incorporating the arts into the popular union of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and pioneering the growing STEAM movement (which adds art to the acronym).Bautista is a remarkable educator,” applauds Foundation Advisory Board member Charles MacLaughlin. "[She is] someone whom all educators can be truly proud. She makes me wish I was starting my career over, with her as my mentor."Ferone first became aware of the Foundation in 2013 when she was nominated by colleagues in BPS to receive the Award for Excellence. "Later that year," she recalls, "I was invited to join the Foundation Board to help select other worthy recipients."As she has had the pleasure and honor of working with and recognizing so many excellent educators, Ferone has seen how these teachers are otherwise rewarded and encouraged, and the view is not always so encouraging."Those of us in education do not always receive recognition or reward for their hard work," she suggests, noting how friends in other fields receive large annual bonuses and other incentives. As such, even the modest financial reward that comes with the Goldin Foundation Award is validating, as is having the opportunity to learn of what colleagues really think of one's achievements. While Ferone had an idea about the type of impact she had been able to make on students over her 30-year career working with inner-city students with significant behavioral and emotional challenges (for whom she used the award money to provide a vacation party), she was still moved by the letters she received from colleagues who also felt that she had made a difference in their lives. As a member of the Foundation Board, Ferone is now able to pass on the good feeling and support that she received from so many when she was nominated."Being on the board allows me to contribute to acknowledging educators who have gone above and beyond for their students and their schools," Ferone says. "It is so rewarding to be able to provide the validation I was so happy to receive to fellow educators."As she works in development, Veldwisch also supports educators. As she is not in the classroom on a daily basis, however, she was all the more honored to be recognized by her peers"It is rare that those of us in non-traditional education positions are recognized for our contributions to not only our school but also the education community," she observes. "To be nominated for the Goldin Award by the principal and a teacher leader that I was mentoring meant a tremendous amount to me [and] to then be chosen for the actual award and celebrated by the Goldin Foundation and my friends/family is an honor that I will long treasure!"In addition to hosting the Forum and presenting the annual awards, the Foundation also supports a network of affiliated educators that encourages the sharing of best practices among award recipients. It also hosts a series of leadership seminars that allow and encourage recipients and others to further expand upon their realms of expertise. A recent project, Baby Brain Connection: Parenting for Early Childhood Literacy provides outreach for less privileged parents and their parent providers including workshops and a website.No matter how people become involved or remain engaged, however, Goldin maintains that the real winners are the students. "Students are the ultimate recipients," she observes, "a result of a big ripple effect by excellent teaching and greater morale."While he says that he did not enter the teaching field searching for accolades and admits that he went into the field knowing that victories can sometimes seem to be "few and far between" and that most of them are private, Lonergan is grateful for the work the Foundation is doing and the work it encourages among his colleagues."I think Harriet and the Goldin Foundation are doing important work by shining a light on the positive contributions educators are making in their schools," Lonergan says. "The Goldin Foundation is celebrating the work of educators and the profession as a whole."In addition to representing a rare moment in the spotlight, Lonergan says the ceremony offered an opportunity to meet and collaborate with talented colleagues and a reminder that, accolades aside, "the work never ends." "In this line of work," Lonergan observes, "there are no laurels to rest on. Every day brings a new set of challenges and, if we're lucky, another small victory."</p>
