Awarded the outstanding contribution to the industry award 2025, Keith Segal reflects on the challenges and successes of the past 30 years in international education, and pays tribute to the dedicated staff who have stood alongside him on this journey.
Tag: Award
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Top Hat and the First Nations Caring Society Award 2025 Shannen’s Dream Scholarships
TORONTO – August 1, 2025 – Top Hat, the leader in student engagement solutions for higher education, is proud to announce the 2025 recipients of the Shannen’s Dream Scholarship, presented in partnership with the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society. As lead sponsor, Top Hat is funding two $10,000 and two $5,500 scholarships, awarded to First Nations students pursuing post-secondary education in recognition of their academic excellence and outstanding contributions to their communities.
Scholarship recipients were selected based on outstanding academic performance and a demonstrated track record of promoting health, wellbeing, and equity within their communities. Whether through mentorship, health advocacy, or cultural revitalization, these individuals are already acting as important agents of change.
“We are deeply inspired by all that these individuals have accomplished so early in their lives. They are community builders, advocates, and future leaders with enormous potential,” said Maggie Leen, CEO of Top Hat. “It’s an honor to play even a small part in helping them achieve their dreams of higher education and go even further.”
Named in honor of Shannen Koostachin, a courageous youth from Attawapiskat First Nation who led a national campaign for equitable education, the Shannen’s Dream Scholarship celebrates Indigenous students who exemplify resilience, leadership, and a commitment to social change.
What makes the scholarship unique is its “pay-it-forward” requirement. Each recipient is expected to make a fair and measurable contribution to the Shannen’s Dream campaign or a related First Nations initiative. Previous pay-it-forward campaigns have included creating a guide to help students navigate the medical school application process, hosting talks and workshops on Shannen’s Dreams, and establishing an online database of scholarships for Indigenous youth.
“Shannen believed in the power of education to change lives and communities. Each of this year’s recipients carries that vision forward, not only through their academic efforts, but through their leadership and service,” said Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director of the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society. “We are proud to celebrate these remarkable students and grateful to Top Hat for helping to make the Shannen’s Dream Scholarship a reality for more First Nations youth.”
Meet the 2025 Shannen’s Dream Scholarship Recipients
Zoe Quill, a member of Sapotaweyak Cree Nation with ties to Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation, holds a BSc in Genetics from the University of Manitoba and will be attending the Max Rady College of Medicine for Fall 2025. She is a published researcher and 2024 Manitoba Indigenous Youth Achievement Award recipient, and is committed to advancing Indigenous health and representation in care.
Mercedes Stemm, a proud Mi’kmaw woman from Natoaganeg First Nation, is a second-year medical student at the University of Manitoba. With a BSc in Neuroscience and minor in Indigenous Studies, she co-created Indigenous admissions pathways and launched a national mentorship program supporting future Indigenous medical students.
Syndel Thomas Kozar, from One Arrow First Nation, is completing a Double Honours in Indigenous Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Saskatchewan. A community advocate, Kozar holds leadership roles in youth and arts organizations, with work focused on cultural reclamation, and empowering Indigenous youth through storytelling.
Ruby O’Tennadzahe, a Dene woman from Northlands Denesuline First Nation, will begin the Bachelor of Nursing program at Red River College Polytechnic in Fall 2025. A former Health Care Aide, she brings clinical experience and a strong focus on holistic, culturally grounded care for Indigenous youth.
About Shannen’s Dream Scholarship
The Shannen’s Dream Scholarship was established to assist First Nations youth with the financial burdens of post-secondary education. The scholarship honors Shannen Koostachin, whose advocacy for safe and comfortable schools for First Nations students ignited a nationwide movement. This scholarship aims to continue her legacy by empowering First Nations students to achieve their educational aspirations. To learn more, please visit www.fncaringsociety.com.
About Top Hat
As the leader in student engagement solutions for higher education, Top Hat enables educators to employ evidence-based teaching practices through interactive content, tools, and activities in in-person, online and hybrid classroom environments. Thousands of faculty at more than 900 North American colleges and universities use Top Hat to create meaningful, engaging and accessible learning experiences for students before, during, and after class. To learn more, please visit tophat.com.
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PBLWorks Announces its 2025 Award Winners
Novato, CA – The Buck Institute for Education (dba PBLWorks), a national provider of professional development and curriculum for high-quality Project Based Learning (PBL), has announced the recipients of its 2025 PBL Champions and John Larmer “JL” Lifelong Learning Awards.
The recipients were honored during the organization’s 2025 PBL World conference in Napa Valley, California.
The 2025 PBL Champions
The PBL Champions program recognizes an individual, a school, and a school district that have demonstrated a commitment to PBL; have done quality, lasting work; and have shown evidence of impact on students. The 2025 recipients are:
- District PBL Champion: Lynn Public Schools in Lynn, Massachusetts
This 16,000-student district is transforming teaching and learning through its implementation of PBL. In a little over a year, the team at Lynn established high-functioning district and school leadership teams and trained a cadre of educators who have designed more than 70 projects for students. The district has implemented PBL at all seven of its secondary schools with a goal of having all students participate in two or more high-quality PBL experiences per year by the end of the 2029-30 school year.
- School PBL Champion: University Prep Academy (UPA) High School in Detroit, Michigan
University Prep Schools (UPrep) stands among Detroit’s earliest and longest-running charter school networks. Known for its unwavering commitment to student success, UPrep (UPA) has proudly upheld its signature “90/90 promise”—ensuring that at least 90% of students graduate from high school and 90% of those graduates go on to enroll in college. UPA teachers and leaders have leveraged PBL as a way that empowers students to be a part of the future of their city – from working on keeping their unhoused population warm in the winter through a physics project on heat transfer, to urban gardens that allowed students to provide farm-to-table food to local food pantries and shelters. PBL has opened their eyes to the challenges students face, encouraged them to see and explore those challenges through the lens of solutionists, and has brought UPA closer to the community it serves.
- Individual PBL Champion: Kim Mishkin, Head of School at the Hudson Lab School (HLS) in Hastings, New York
Kim Mishkin has been instrumental in embedding Project Based Learning as the foundation of the school’s curriculum. As both an educator and school leader, she has built structures, cultivated partnerships, and championed interdisciplinary, real-world learning experiences that empower students and educators alike. Through her leadership, HLS has become a model for how schools can integrate PBL at every level, ensuring that learning is not just about content, it is about empowering students to be problem-solvers, leaders, and changemakers.
The John Larmer “JL” Lifelong Learning Award
The John Larmer “JL” Lifelong Learning Award, named after PBLWorks’ Senior Fellow John “JL” Larmer, recognizes educators who are impacting and expanding the work of Project Based Learning. A significant advocate and thought leader in the field, JL has dedicated decades to advancing high-quality PBL and is the author of several foundational books that have shaped how educators design and facilitate high-quality PBL. This award celebrates those who carry forward that legacy with passion, purpose, and an unwavering commitment to deeper learning. The 2025 recipients are:
- Rue Graham, Project Based Learning lead advisor and coach at the Pagosa Peak Open School, Archuleta County School District in Pagosa Springs, Colorado
- Stephanie Tuttle, fourth grade teacher at Fairfield Elementary School, Rockbridge County Public Schools in Rockbridge, Virginia
“Project Based Learning is an incredibly powerful way to engage students and ignite their passion for learning – and it all starts with having administrators and teachers who are committed to its success,” said PBLWorks CEO Bob Lenz. “Our awards programs recognize the incredible passion and hard work demonstrated by schools, districts, and individuals in implementing PBL. Congratulations to our 2025 award recipients!”
About PBLWorks
The Buck Institute for Education/ PBLWorks believes that all students, especially Black and Brown students, should have access to high-quality Project Based Learning to deepen their learning and achieve success in college, career, and life. Its focus is on building the capacity of teachers to design and facilitate high-quality Project Based Learning, and on supporting school and system leaders in creating the conditions for these teachers to succeed with all students.
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An award recognizes the importance of youth journalism
On 18 July, U.S. legislators voted to rescind more than one billion dollars in funding previously allotted to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), a nonprofit network of television and radio stations partly funded by the U.S. government.
The cuts put at risk educational and training programs geared to young people across the country.
That’s why an award from Global Youth & News Media to PBS News Student Reporting Labs is so significant.
Student Reporting Labs (SRL) is a U.S.-based journalism training program for young people and their educators. On 23 July, Global Youth & News Media, a France-based nonprofit dedicated to encouraging and honoring news media engagement with the young, awarded SRL its Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Journalism.
“This award is in recognition of the program’s impactful history and determination to continue its unmatched work to introduce young people throughout the United States to local broadcast journalism,” said Aralynn McMane, executive director of Global Youth & News Media. “In voting to bestow this award, our board was unanimous and adamant about the need to shine a spotlight on Student Reporting Labs to remind the world of what short-sighted politics risks destroying in the wake of defunding public broadcasting.”
The importance of youth journalism
This is only the second time the Global Youth & News Media board has bestowed such an honorary award. The first was in 2018 for joint live coverage of the March For Our Lives anti-gun demonstration by The Guardian US with Eagle Eye News student reporters from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, which had seen the killing of 18 people at the school just three weeks prior.
Founded in 2009 by Leah Clapman, then the managing editor of education at PBS NewsHour, Student Reporting Labs has helped build broadcast and journalism programs in thousands of secondary schools across all 50 states.
The program connects them with over 40 public television stations and local news organizations to bring their story to local audiences. SRL empowers the next generation of storytellers by providing free training fellowships and workshops to students and educators across the country and around the world. In all, more than 125,000 students have participated in the program.
SRL also reaches more than 10,000 educators via a free learning platform StoryMaker. StoryMaker provides teachers with instruction materials and lessons to help students think critically, explore their curiosity about the world and engage in their communities.
The SRL program was established “on the premise that some stories are best told by young people,” Clapman, now full-time executive director of SRL, wrote in a briefing last week. ”This is especially true in this moment of rapid change and disruption. In this challenging time, we’re leaning in to perseverance and service rather than despair.”
Mentoring teens to tell important stories
Clapman wrote that newsrooms can benefit from the important perspectives, experiences and insights that teens have and that these perspectives can help news organizations tell more nuanced and complete stories about issues that affect students.
One such teenager that the Student Reporting Labs trained was award-winning alumna Mary Williams, who joined the program in 2015 and interned at her local PBS station in Ohio.
“Now when I see the news, it’s personal,” she said. “The economy, education system and the Earth’s current state aren’t just my parents’ problems to worry about. They’re mine, too.”
The Global Youth & News Media Prize for journalism this year focused on youth collaborations that help local news media survive. The rest of the laureates were chosen by an international expert jury and will be announced in the coming weeks. News Decoder, which trains and encourages young people to develop global perspectives in storytelling, is a partner in the award and helped judge the entries.
News Decoder Educational News Director Marcy Burstiner said that it is more important than ever to recognize the important work young journalists are doing.
“It seems that in the United States and elsewhere there is a war on journalism and truth telling,” Burstiner said. “I used to tell my students that it was a myth that you needed a thick skin to be a journalist. But these days, you do.”
But every year, News Decoder finds more and more young people stepping up to the challenge, Burstiner said.
“They aren’t afraid to tell the important stories that need to be told,” she said. “But people need to support the organizations like PBS News Student Reporting Labs that help and encourage young people to be truth tellers.”
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College Board cancels award program for high-performing Black and Latino students
The College Board this month changed the criteria for its National Recognition Program awards in a move that could shift tens of thousands of scholarship dollars from Black and Latino students to white students.
Colleges used the awards to recruit and offer scholarships to high-performing students from groups underrepresented in higher education. The award previously recognized academic achievement by students in five categories — Black, Hispanic, Native American, first-generation and those living in rural areas or small towns.
The racial categories have been eliminated.
Now, students living in small towns and rural areas can still earn the award if they score in the top 10 percent among all small-town and rural students in their state on the PSAT — a precursor to the SAT that is administered in high schools around the country. The same is true for first-generation students but not for students in underrepresented racial categories.
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Critics said they were disappointed by the College Board’s decision.
“They believed racial inequality was something important to address yesterday, and by changing that, they’re implying that it’s not something important to fight for now,” said Rachel Perera, a fellow in government studies at the liberal Brookings Institution. “That’s the heart of the question that’s being debated — although it’s not being debated in explicit terms — does racial discrimination exist?”
In a statement on its website, the College Board noted the 2023 Supreme Court ruling that prohibited the use of race in admissions, although the National Recognition Program awards were used for scholarships and recruitment, not admissions.
“Recent legal and regulatory actions have further limited the utility of these awards for students and colleges,” the statement says. Also, President Donald Trump has repeatedly made clear his disapproval of race-conscious policies in higher education, and some states have banned consideration of race in scholarship decisions.
In 2023-24, the College Board issued 115,000 recognition awards, and a little less than half were in the racial categories. The previous year there were more than 80,000 awards and the majority were for Black, Hispanic and Native American students. While the College Board doesn’t hand out money itself, universities use it to select students for scholarships. The Board has not maintained a list of which institutions used the racial categories, according to Holly Stepp, College Board’s director of communications.
The College Board started the program in 1983 to recognize high-performing Hispanic students. In 2020, the other two racial categories and the small town and rural designations were added. First-generation students could win the award starting last year. Small towns could include those with modest incomes or wealthy enclaves like Aspen, Colorado. All students must also have at least a B+ average.
Related: Cutting race-based scholarships blocks path to college, students say
While students of all races can now earn the awards, the removal of the racial categories will likely disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic students.
On average, Asian and white students score higher on PSATs. White students’ average score on the PSAT last year was 994 last year compared with 821 for Black students — a gap of 173 points. Asian students’ average was even higher at 1108 while Hispanic and Native American students averaged 852 and 828 respectively.
“It’s a move towards race-blind categories when we know that education and access to education isn’t race-blind,” said Wil Del Pilar, senior vice president at the left-leaning policy and advocacy group EdTrust.
Some conservatives praised the move, however, arguing that race-conscious scholarship and recruitment programs were ways to get around the Supreme Court’s rulings on affirmative action and that they were a form of reverse discrimination.
Jonathan Butcher, senior research fellow in education policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said he believes that racial discrimination does exist and should be addressed, but that race-conscious education policies were both illegal and ineffective.
“If you are using racial preferences, you are setting students up for a loss of confidence when they struggle in a situation they’re not prepared for,” Butcher said.
Related: How did students pitch themselves to colleges after last year’s affirmative action ruling?
In place of the racial categories, a new designation has been added this year that recognizes students who score in the top 10 percent of their high school on the PSAT.
Experts say colleges are unlikely to offer scholarships to all students who score in the top 10 percent of every high school in the country, given the cost that would entail. Officials at the University of New Mexico, for example, said they would stop using the College Board designations beginning in the 2026-27 school year.
“We’re currently analyzing our scholarship strategy, but changes will be made across the board,” said Steve Carr, the university’s director of communications, in an email.
In 2023-24, the University of New Mexico awarded scholarships based on the College Board designations worth $15,000 each to 149 Black, Hispanic and Native American students.
The University of Arizona also offered scholarships to students who earned National Recognition Program awards in the racial designations last year.
“The university was already evaluating its scholarship strategy and will consider the College Board’s announcement as we determine how best to move forward and support our students,” said Mitch Zak, spokesman for the University of Arizona, in an email.
In addition to the PSAT scores, students are eligible for the College Board award if they score a 3 or higher out of 5 on two Advanced Placement exams taken during their ninth and/or 10th grade year, although many high schools don’t uniformly offer AP courses to freshmen and sophomores.
“We can’t really have a conversation around merit if we’re not all at the same starting point in terms of what we receive from our K-12 education,” said Del Pilar, “and how we’re able to navigate the test prep environment, or the lack of test prep that certain communities receive.”
Contact senior investigative reporter Meredith Kolodner at 212-870-1063 or [email protected] or on Signal at merkolodner.04
This story about the College Board was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.
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Otus Wins Gold Stevie® Award for Customer Service Department of the Year
CHICAGO, IL (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Otus, a leading provider of K-12 student data and assessment solutions, has been awarded a prestigious Gold Stevie® Award in the category of Customer Service Department of the Year at the 2025 American Business Awards®. This recognition celebrates the company’s unwavering commitment to supporting educators, students, and families through exceptional service and innovation.
In addition to the Gold award, Otus also earned two Silver Stevie® Awards: one for Company of the Year – Computer Software – Medium Size, and another honoring Co-founder and President Chris Hull as Technology Executive of the Year.
“It is an incredible honor to be recognized, but the real win is knowing our work is making a difference for educators and students,” said Hull. “As a former teacher, I know how difficult it can be to juggle everything that is asked of you. At Otus, we focus on building tools that save time, surface meaningful insights, and make student data easier to use—so teachers can focus on what matters most: helping kids grow.”
The American Business Awards®, now in their 23rd year, are the premier business awards program in the United States, honoring outstanding performances in the workplace across a wide range of industries. The competition receives more than 12,000 nominations every year. Judges selected Otus for its outstanding 98.7% customer satisfaction with chat interactions, and exceptional 89% gross retention in 2024. They also praised the company’s unique blend of technology and human touch, noting its strong focus on educator-led support, onboarding, data-driven product evolution, and professional development.
“We believe great support starts with understanding the realities educators face every day. Our Client Success team is largely made up of former teachers and school leaders, so we speak the same language. Whether it’s during onboarding, training, or day-to-day communication, we’re here to help districts feel confident and supported. This recognition is a reflection of how seriously we take that responsibility and energizes us to keep raising the bar,” said Phil Collins, Ed.D., Chief Customer Officer at Otus.
Otus continues to make significant strides in simplifying teaching and learning by offering a unified platform that integrates assessment, data, and instruction—all in one place. Otus has supported over 1 million students nationwide by helping educators make data-informed decisions, monitor progress, and personalize learning. These honors reflect the company’s growth, innovation, and steadfast commitment to helping school communities succeed.
About Otus
Otus, an award-winning edtech company, empowers educators to maximize student performance with a comprehensive K-12 assessment, data, and insights solution. Committed to student achievement and educational equity, Otus combines student data with powerful tools that provide educators, administrators, and families with the insights they need to make a difference. Built by teachers for teachers, Otus creates efficiencies in data management, assessment, and progress monitoring to help educators focus on what matters most—student success. Today, Otus partners with school districts nationwide to create informed, data-driven learning environments. Learn more at Otus.com.
Stay connected with Otus on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and Instagram.
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“Inside Higher Ed” Co-Founders Win Prestigious CASE Award
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education has awarded Inside Higher Ed co-founders Scott Jaschik and Doug Lederman the 2025 James L. Fisher Award for distinguished service to education.
The award “highlights individuals whose influence on education extends beyond a single institution.”
Jaschik and Lederman left The Chronicle of Higher Education to launch Inside Higher Ed in 2004, turning it into “a vital resource for higher education leaders, offering insightful analysis and coverage of critical issues affecting the sector,” the award announcement said.
“Doug and Scott’s work has increased public understanding of higher education and influenced institutional strategy and policy,” it read. “Their thoughtful reporting has made Inside Higher Ed a trusted source for higher education professionals worldwide.”
Previous winners of the award include former CBS president Fred Friendly and Vartan Gregorian, who led both the New York Public Library and the Carnegie Corporation.
“Scott Jaschik and Doug Lederman have provided colleges and universities with an accessible form of quality journalism, expected transparency and truth from leaders, and allowed the celebration of the impact education has on the lives of our students,” Teresa Valerio Parrot, principal of TVP Communications (and a frequent contributor to Inside Higher Ed), said in the CASE statement.
Jaschik retired from Inside Higher Ed in 2023 and Lederman in 2024.
The award will be presented at the CASE Summit for Leaders in Advancement in New York City in July.
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QS boss wins lifetime achievement award at PIE Live Europe 2025
The PIE Live Europe, held between March 11-12 in central London, brought together leading figures in the international education sector. Delegates at the two-day conference heard key immigration updates, debated the future of the ELT sector and highlighted the value that international students bring to the UK.
As the conference drew to a close, the winner of the event’s lifetime achievement award was revealed to be Nunzio Quacquarelli, who founded the global higher education and insights company QS in 1990.
Famed for its university rankings, QS has expanded under Quacquarelli’s leadership to employ more than 900 people from over 30 countries.
Quacqarelli said it was a “great feeling” to win the award, having been a supporter of The PIE since it was a “fledgeling business”.
On what was next for QS, he added: “We’re really committed to providing trusted data and insights to the higher education sector and we really believe in the need for universities to transform, to adopt AI – so we’ve launched a responsible AI consortium with Imperial College.
“And we really believe the need to deliver the emerging skills of the fifth industrial revolution, so we are developing huge amounts of insight on skills and occupations… to identify whatever skills are going to be demanded by employers of the future to guide curricular reform and university transformation.”
You can watch his full interview in the video below.
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Whitney Brothers® elevatED™ CollectionReceives Design Journal BEST of 2024 Award
Keene, NH – Acclaimed furniture brand Whitney Brothers® today announced its new elevatED™ Collection of furniture for young learners received a BEST of 2024 award from Design Journal, a leading global trade resource for interior designers, architects and facility managers.
A Design Journal panel of 2,400 internationally renowned interior designers, architects and facility managers cited the elevatED™ Collection’s distinct contemporary style and its inventive adaptation across 46 individual pieces in the collection. Each piece is constructed in textured white oak and white melamine structural elements that form crisp, pleasing lines with refined contrasting color accents. Brushed nickel legs add design counterpoint and rich visual interest.
The elevatED™ Collection comprises 46 individual and modular pieces for young learner activities including art, STEM / sensory, literacy development, play, tables, seating, lockers and storage. Each piece is flexible, mobile or modular to enable furnishing a dynamic learning environment for young learners completely within the elevated™ Collection.
Technical attributes of the collection include FSC certified wood material and Eco-Certified Composite (ECC) certification, an exemplary commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship. The finish on each piece includes proven antimicrobial properties, an important attribute that contributes to the health and well-being of young children.
“The Design Journal BEST of 2024 award recognizes how a fresh, modern expression of furniture can play a central role in creating a dynamic learning environment for our youngest learners,” said Mike Jablonski, president of Whitney Brothers®. “The elevatED™ Collection is another great example of our brand’s innovation and commitment to furnish learning environments that inspire and engage young children.”
About Design Journal
Design Journal is a leading international trade resource for interior designers, architects and facility managers since 1988. The Design Journal awards program is one of the most prominent design recognition platforms in the world for the fields of architecture and design. Each year, a global advisory board of 2,400 internationally renowned industry professionals preside over a rigorous evaluation process to select projects and products that represent the highest standards of design excellence.About Whitney Brothers®
Founded in 1904, Whitney Brothers® is a 100% employee-owned producer of furniture for Early Learning and institutional childcare environments sold through educational distributors and dealers to schools, childcare centers, Head Start facilities, churches, libraries, museums and residential homes throughout North America and around the world. The brand’s rich 121-year history reflects old world craftsmanship blended with state of the art manufacturing technology to create products of uncompromising quality, design, innovation, safety, durability and value. Each product is UL GREENGUARD® Gold and antimicrobial certified, qualifies for LEED credits, meets or exceeds applicable CPSIA, ASTM and BIFMA requirements, supported by a Limited Lifetime Warranty and proudly made in America.Latest posts by eSchool News Staff (see all) -
2024 Shaping Australia award winners announced
The Future Builder award winners. Picture: UA
Researchers who developed coffee ground-infused concrete, a rust disease cure for wheat crops and an intellectual-disability friendly playground took home a Universities Australia Shaping Australia award on Tuesday night.
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