Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards
Encyclopedia
The Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards honors five outstanding Chicago area early childhood educators each year. The selection process begins each fall with an open call for nominees. Each nominee must be a full time Chicago early childhood teacher with at least five years experience with students eight years old or younger. They may work in preschools, home day care centers, childcare centers, Head Start programs, State Prekindergartens, and kindergarten through third-grade classrooms in public, private, and parochial schools. The awards have been restricted to teachers in Cook County
in Illinois
, but beginning in 2008, the honor will be extended to DuPage County as well.
A committee of leaders in the field of early childhood education reviews all nominees and then conducts site visits to a select group of the nominees. From their observations, the committee members select a group of finalists. Five of those finalists are then chosen to represent the best of the field, following a final application process that includes additional site visits and interviews by fellows from the Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators
. The five award winners are honored at a June luncheon ceremony.
Each winner receives:
The awards program seeks to raise public awareness of the importance of quality early childhood education and to raise the self-esteem of early childhood educators. As a result, the program also hopes to encourage better funding for early childhood education; encourage qualified candidates to enter the field; help in the retention of highly qualified teachers; and help parents to support their children’s learning.
Begun in 1996, the awards are a joint project of the Dolores Kohl Education Foundation
and the McCormick Tribune Foundation. All winners are admitted into membership in the Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators. The academy also includes recipients of the Kohl International Teaching Awards
, which were given from 1985 to 1994.
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, but beginning in 2008, the honor will be extended to DuPage County as well.
A committee of leaders in the field of early childhood education reviews all nominees and then conducts site visits to a select group of the nominees. From their observations, the committee members select a group of finalists. Five of those finalists are then chosen to represent the best of the field, following a final application process that includes additional site visits and interviews by fellows from the Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators
Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators
The Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators is an honorary organization whose members are recipients of the Kohl International Teaching Awards and the Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards. The Kohl International Teaching Awards were given each year from 1985 to 1994 by the Dolores...
. The five award winners are honored at a June luncheon ceremony.
Each winner receives:
- A $5,000 cash prize;
- A $1,000 cash prize for his or her school or center;
- A visit and workshop from the Kohl McCormick StoryBusKohl McCormick StoryBusThe Kohl McCormick StoryBus is a children's literacy museum on wheels that visits schools and community events in the Chicago area. Housed inside a 37-foot Winnebago, the bus promotes reading to students at the kindergarten and pre-k levels...
providing hands-on learning for early literacy; - A field trip and workshop at the Kohl Children's MuseumKohl Children's MuseumKohl Children’s Museum of Greater Chicago is a hands-on learning laboratory for children ages birth to 8. All of the exhibits and programs are aligned to the Illinois State Learning Standards and are designed to make learning fun and interesting for young children....
; - A graduate-level course at Chicago's renowned Erikson InstituteErikson InstituteErikson Institute is a graduate school in child development located in downtown Chicago, Illinois. It is named for the noted psychoanalyst and developmental psychologist, Erik Erikson.-History and mission:...
; - Induction into the Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators.
The awards program seeks to raise public awareness of the importance of quality early childhood education and to raise the self-esteem of early childhood educators. As a result, the program also hopes to encourage better funding for early childhood education; encourage qualified candidates to enter the field; help in the retention of highly qualified teachers; and help parents to support their children’s learning.
Begun in 1996, the awards are a joint project of the Dolores Kohl Education Foundation
Dolores Kohl Education Foundation
With the goal of enhancing children’s learning through the support of exemplary teaching, the Dolores Kohl Education Foundation was launched in 1972 as a private, not-for-profit international operating foundation that creates and directs its own programs. A catalyst for excellence in education, the...
and the McCormick Tribune Foundation. All winners are admitted into membership in the Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators. The academy also includes recipients of the Kohl International Teaching Awards
Kohl International Teaching Awards
The Kohl International Teaching Awards honored elementary and high school teachers as well as media and lifetime contributors to the field of education. The Dolores Kohl Education Foundation gave the awards between 1985 and 1994. The awards went to Chicago-area teachers, as well as national and...
, which were given from 1985 to 1994.