We treated them; now you need to nominate them!

Apple for the Teacher Day 2025 has come and gone. We thank the more than 40 board, community and Teacher Academy members who volunteered to help sign letters, sort and bag/box more than 5,000 apples, load cars with apples and deliver them to teachers all over Boone and Winnebago counties! Thanks also to Associated Bank and Rockford University for supplying muscle power!!! These apples, generously provided by Schnucks, came along with nomination forms and thank you cards to recognize all that these teachers do to care for our youth and help them learn and grow.

This event kicks off our selection process for the 2026 Golden Apple teacher awards. The next step is for people to nominate some amazing educators for these awards. Nominate educators of 6th-12th grade students at public or non-public schools in these two counties by Oct. 16 for them to start the process. Once we receive the nominations, we announce them to the public and invite the nominees to a reception where we encourage them to honor the nominators by continuing in the process. They then can submit a portfolio to us including a self-reflective essay, background information and letters of recommendation. From the submitted portfolios, we narrow the field to 20 finalists, who continue the process through classroom observations and interviews. We name the award recipients in surprise classroom presentations in March.

Nominations are available online here. Be sure to submit yours by Oct. 16!