The Smith Center opens nominations for Heart of Education awards

The Smith Center for the Performing Arts and The Rogers Foundation announced Tuesday that they are accepting nominations of outstanding teachers for the Heart of Education Awards.

It’s the sixth year for the awards recognizing Clark County School District teachers. Community members can submit a nomination through Jan. 15.

Nominations will be reviewed by a panel of community leaders and education experts. Finalists will be recognized in spring 2021. The top 20 teachers will receive a $5,000 cash prize and $1,000 donation to a school program of their choice.

“We’ve always known that our teachers are superheroes,” Smith Center CEO and President Myron Martin said in a news release. “Now with online learning requiring even greater mental effort and preparation, our teachers are having to be more resilient, innovative and imaginative than ever before.”

Since the program’s inception in 2015, 100 teachers have received the awards. The Las Vegas Review-Journal is the print media sponsor for the awards program.

The annual awards program typically includes a red-carpet ceremony at The Smith Center with entertainment and high-profile keynote speakers. Finalists and their family members are invited to attend.

“It’s the night of the year for public school teachers,” Martin told the Review-Journal in May.

This year, more than 800 teachers were honored as finalists, but no in-person ceremony took place because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each of the 20 award recipients was surprised during a video call with his or her school principal and Martin.

For more information or to submit a nomination, visit TheHeartofEducation.org.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.