180 Awards Honor Outstanding Teachers Committed to Helping Struggling Students Succeed

BOSTON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) today announced the five inspiring educators who have been named recipients of the prestigious 2017 180 Educator Awards. The awards, now in their eleventh year, celebrate teachers who have fostered both personal and academic growth in their students by offering the vital support needed to strengthen math and literacy skills.

The five 180 Educator Award winners, ranging in age, background and location, have encouraged students to strive for gains in reading and math achievement using READ 180, MATH 180 and System 44, intervention programs that use adaptive technology to personalize instruction and accelerate growth. Tasked with helping kids who have fallen behind due to a variety of personal and academic obstacles, these teachers have made it their mission to ensure all students succeed both in and out of the classroom.

"Teachers are the backbone of our society and play a critical role in ensuring our students have the foundational knowledge and skills that will position them for future success," said Nicole Foster, Vice President, Intervention Solutions at HMH. "We commend these five remarkable educators for their steadfast commitment to helping shape the next generation by encouraging, motivating and inspiring learners to embrace opportunity in order to understand their full academic potential."

The 180 Educator Award winners are selected by an HMH committee that reviews demonstrated improvement in reading and math based on average Lexile™ or Quantile™ gains in each educator's classroom. Nomination forms also include personal statements from the educators and students who have experienced impact firsthand, as well as references from colleagues in the nominated educator's community. In addition to a classroom library of HMH titles, the winners receive an invitation to attend the 2017 Model Schools Conference in Nashville, Tennessee in June, where they will be recognized for their achievements at an awards ceremony.

The 2017 180 Educator Award winners include: 

Stephanie Capan

Pittsburgh Langley K-8 School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Faced with the challenge of teaching frustrated math students a subject that they had learned to dislike, Ms. Capan and a colleague worked tirelessly to integrate MATH 180 into her lesson plans. As a result, Ms. Capan's classroom Quantile™ has grown by an average of 311 points. One student says, "I like math now and feel confident when I work through problems…I feel like I will be ready for Algebra next year when I go to high school, thanks to Ms. Capan." 

Amy Dendinger

Tiffin Middle School, Tiffin, Ohio

Ms. Dendinger is a reading intervention specialist dedicated to helping her students push past their comfort zones to achieve success that they ultimately never believed was possible. Because of this positive mentality, Ms. Dendinger's average classroom Lexile™ has grown by 175 points, and 100 percent of her students have met their growth levels in the READ 180 program.

Andrew Locke

Floyd Light Middle School, Portland, Oregon

As a teacher in the David Douglas School District, one of the most diverse districts in the state of Oregon, Mr. Locke works hard to create a sense of community in his System 44 classroom, developing meaningful relationships with every student and inspiring them to grow both personally and academically. His efforts have resulted in an average classroom Lexile™ growth of 210 points.

Victor Soria

Grace M. Davis High School, Modesto, California

In Mr. Soria's READ 180 classroom, 100 percent of his students are English Learners who have been in the United States for less than four years. His focus on creating a safe and welcoming classroom environment coupled with high expectations, a positive attitude and constant words of encouragement has resulted in an average classroom Lexile™ growth of 144 points. "His advice has not only helped me in his class," says one student, "it has helped me in all of them, and in my life." 

Lynn Thrailkill

Rosemont Elementary School, LaGrange, Georgia

Ms. Thrailkill's high expectations and belief that each of her students can and will succeed results in a classroom full of students who are eager to embrace learning and a growth mindset through the READ 180 program. Colleagues describe Ms. Thrailkill as "an outstanding educator who yields student success in everything she teaches," which is evident from her average classroom Lexile™ growth of 97 points.

To learn more about the five 2017 180 Educator Award winners, please visit the READ 180 Community page.

About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (NASDAQ: HMHC) is a global learning company dedicated to changing people's lives by fostering passionate, curious learners. As a leading provider of pre-K–12 education content, services and cutting-edge technology solutions across a variety of media, HMH enables learning in a changing landscape. HMH is uniquely positioned to create engaging and effective educational content and experiences from early childhood to beyond the classroom. HMH serves more than 50 million students in over 150 countries worldwide, while its award-winning children's books, novels, non-fiction and reference titles are enjoyed by readers throughout the world. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.

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Meghan Kelly Daly
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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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