November 2025

Update from our 2025 Award Winner

Paying It Forward: Empowering Students with REMC Prize Money - I was surprised and excited when I found out that REMC awarded me $500 as part of the MACUL Innovative Leader Award. My first thought was what kind of snowboard I could get, but I decided that would be pretty selfish. Instead I could use the money to address the challenge my district had with finding relevant and engaging ways to teach students about responsible tech use. 

After some deliberation and discussions with colleagues, we came up with the idea to host a student video contest so that we could use the videos for future activities.

The contest awarded $50 prizes, randomly chosen from submissions, across K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 grade bands. To get the word out, info was shared by school announcements, posters, intros to student groups, and invitations to teachers. Our goal was to provide an opportunity for students to create short videos highlighting responsible online behaviors. We received 31 submissions from over 50 students! 

Here are a few student samples:

Overall, I consider it a success. Even if we don’t use the videos for learning activities, dozens of students grew from their experience, and some got a nice pay day. I can keep riding my old board.

Award nominations are open now for 2026! There are four categories to choose from:

  • Innovative Teacher
  • Innovative Leader
  • Innovative District 
  • Innovative Technology Professional