Insights

The last year has been a huge challenge for PreK-12 educators everywhere. However, with challenge often comes opportunity to rise up and find creative solutions. That is why we created the Cambium Essential Educators Award this year, which is rooted in Cambium’s essential elements of simplicity, certainty and now.

This year, we’re recognizing three teachers from across the country who are helping to solve critical challenges in the classroom during an unprecedented school year. In the inaugural year of the Essential Educators Award, Cambium invited several school districts to submit written nominations for teachers who have gone above and beyond. From there, we narrowed it down to three districts whose leaders then recognized an exemplary teacher.

Winners represent Miami-Dade County, FL, Katy, TX, and Springfield, MO. Each one has gone the extra mile in terms of ensuring their students have the best education possible in this challenging moment. Cambium’s products have also played a special role in helping teachers and students this year, underscoring our focus to support educators with solutions that address the most pressing challenges they’re facing today.

For instance, Sofia Inguanzo-Perez from Miami-Dade is an active ExploreLearning Gizmos user and recognizes the role of technology in the classroom as a resource for students to understand the world around them. Because of this understanding and her strong grasp on Gizmos, Sofia has been able to make the transition to virtual learning.

Lauren Calvert from Katy has embraced the district’s new resource, Lexia^® PowerUp Literacy^® over the past year. The program, which is designed to help struggling and nearly-proficient readers in grades 6–12 become proficient readers, has ensured that Lauren is able to address her students’ needs—even when she wasn’t with them physically in the classroom.

From Springfield, MO, Stephanie Summers was selected for her ability to seamlessly transition her physical first grade classroom to an online classroom. With the help of Learning A-Z and other tools, Stephanie was able to engage her students in reading, writing, science, and social studies.

Each of these educators has proven that challenging times can lead to amazing innovation, and I’m proud that our products were able to play a role in that. Stay tuned here and on our social channels, as we’ll spotlight these exceptional winners over the next several weeks.