Let the Bammys Grow and Flourish

It has been a few weeks now since I returned from Washington, DC and the Bammy Awards. It was truly a pleasure to have received an invitation to this incredible event. For those that don't know about the Bammys, here is the official description.

The Bammy Awards is a cross-discipline award that identifies and acknowledges excellence throughout the education field -- from teachers, principals and superintendents, to school nurses, support staff, advocates, researchers, early childhood specialists, education journalists and parents.  The Bammy Awards were created in response to the tremendous national pressure on educators and education leaders to improve student outcomes, and the intense scrutiny that today's educators face as a result. 

The Bammy Awards acknowledge that teachers can't do it alone and don't do it alone. The Awards aim to foster cross-discipline recognition of excellence in education, encourage collaboration and respect in and across the various domains, elevate education and education successes in the public eye, and raise the profile and voices of the many undervalued and unrecognized people who are making a difference in the field.

After having a few weeks to return home and allow the event to soak in, it is clear that the Bammys are an event that are needed to reshape the mental models surrounding schools and teachers. There are so many incredible things to celebrate in education today, and the momentum remains to talk about the negative and focus on the failure. The Bammys can be a part of the momentum stopping counter narrative that brings our nation back around to a common sense, solution-oriented approach to moving forward in education.

The Bammys provide a night of celebration, a night of beauty, and a night to hear what is right about our work with kids. The challenge of moving from an inaugural event that is the celebration of an idea to a version 2.0 of an event is that there are now expectations that the Bammys begin to play a role in change. Playing this role will require an incredible program that is broadcast and shared at a level seeps into the DNA of our families, leaders, and communities.

Bravo to the Bammys on year one, and I'm looking forward to supporting this celebration for many years to come.