An independent outside panel of judges is sorting through the record 717 nominations for the 15 LifeChanger of the Year prizes.
Well, technically, the judges don’t have to go through every single nomination because they were presented with a list of a few dozen particularly notable nominees.
The panel is made up of past LifeChanger winners as well as a couple of collegiate level education leaders.
They’ll rank nominees to determine the LifeChanger Grand Prize winner, along with four Runners-Up and 10 National LifeChangers.
Later this winter and into the spring, surprise ceremonies will be organized for all of them. And the top five finalists will go to conference in Florida, where the Grand Prize winner will be awarded. Later in the season, a Spirit Award will be presented.
The LifeChanger program continues to grow. There were 94 more nominees in 2016 than there were in 2015. They came from a total of 417 school districts and 269 of them were brand new to the program.
Many of the nominations came in over the holidays when we run a special campaign, offering a gift to the nominee from his or her nominator. This year, we recruited agents in key markets to deliver the gifts personally.
Agents say the personal touch was welcome. “It was fantastic,” said ValuTeachers agent Michael Patton. “I think it is a wonderful way to get the principal to give us time in front of everyone to give them the plaque. We should do that with every single nominee it works well.”
In the photo above, left to right, ValuTeachers agent Linwood Weeks presents a LifeChanger frame to nominee Cathy Fess and her principal, F.T. Franks of Beddingfield High School in North Carolina.