2011 Award Winners

Three of metropolitan Chicago's finest educators who work with children between birth and age eight have been selected as recipients of the 2011 Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards. These educators exemplify the best practices of quality early childhood teaching: dedication, innovation, leadership, respect for children and their families, and commitment to professional growth.

Each of the three winners will receive a $5,000 cash award for herself; a $1,000 cash award for her school; a classroom visit from the StoryBus, a children's museum on wheels, and a graduate-level course at Chicago’s renowned Erikson Institute. They will also be inducted into the Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators at a luncheon on Tuesday, June 7. This year's Birth-to-Great Champions—Joseph Gregoire of PNC Financial Services Group, Welz Kauffman of Ravinia, and Terry Mazany of the Chicago Community Trust—will present the winners, at a ceremony presided over by WGN's Micah Materre.

The Kohl McCormick Award winners for 2011 are:

Kim Edwards Anderson
Chase Elementary, Chicago
Kindergarten

Nicole J. Gorton
Ortiz de Dominguez, Chicago
Preschool and Kindergarten Special Education

Ziomara Perez
Nettelhorst School, Chicago
Preschool

The Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards is the first awards program to formally recognize the contributions of teachers working with children from infancy through third grade. In its sixteenth year, the Kohl McCormick Awards program has become a model for recognition of outstanding early childhood educators. The Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards are sponsored by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation and the Dolores Kohl Education Foundation.

The Robert R. McCormick Foundation is committed to fostering communities of educated, informed, and engaged citizens. Through philanthropic programs, Cantigny Park, and museums, the Foundation helps develop citizen leaders and works to make life better in our communities. The Foundation was established as a charitable trust in 1955, upon the death of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. Since 1993, early childhood education has been a cornerstone of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation's commitment to serve children. The Foundation has distributed more than $90 million in grants to build public awareness, change public policy, and improve the quality of programs, curriculum, and teacher training. Together, these priorities have advanced the goal of building a system of quality early care and education for children birth to age eight in Illinois. For more information about the Foundation and its efforts, please visit McCormickFoundation.org.

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. Having pioneered Teacher Centers in Illinois and Israel—which sparked a host of similar programs worldwide—the Foundation later launched and directed the Kohl Children's Museum, a model for early learning through experiential environments. For a decade, the Kohl International Teaching Awards honored local and national elementary and high school teachers. International Peace Prizes, media awards and lifetime achievement awards were presented for exceptional contributions to the field of education. As a catalyst for excellence in education from preschool to adult learners, the Foundation continues to operate innovative education and arts programs in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit dkef.org.

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