Nomination Phase

Students, parents, teachers, school staff, administrators, and community members are encouraged to nominate a licensed educational professional(s) currently working in a participating Partners in Education public or private school from greater Green Bay. Nominations are open for approximately one month. Exact dates can be found on the nomination form. 

Eligibility & Qualifications

• Licensed Educational Professionals, for example: school counselors, administrators, teachers, team of teachers, etc.
  • Must hold a current license through the Department of Public Instruction.
• Professional has to be currently working in or participating in a Partners in Education public or private school (Early Childhood, Pre-K, and Grades 1-12) in greater Green Bay.
• Previous recipients of Golden Apple are not eligible to apply. 
• If selected as a recipient, you must agree to be profiled in a local media outlet, shown in a video at the Awards event, and showcased on the Chamber website and social channels.
• We reserve the right to contact your supervisor during the selection process. 
• Must provide responses to all application questions. 
  

Application Phase – Each participating school is presented with its nominees. School leadership selects which nominee(s) move forward to represent their school in the process based on eligibility. All school-selected nominee(s) are then informed of their nomination and invited to apply for the award. Applications are collected over a two-week time frame. The number of nominees eligible to move to the next round is determined by student enrollment.

Screening Phase – Applications are independently reviewed and scored by community volunteers through three rounds of screening. All scoring is based on the National Board of Professional Teaching standards, which identify the essential knowledge, skills and dispositions expected of experienced, quality educators. Screeners are carefully selected from Chamber member organizations, with priority given to individuals who have professional experience in education or who currently work in an education-related field outside of K-12 school districts.

Individuals with a background in education who are interested in serving as a screener are encouraged to contact our K12 Program Manager for more information. Please note that current employees of K-12 school districts are not eligible to serve as screeners.

The average of the scores is used to identify the top Educators of Distinction and top Educator Teams of Distinction, who then move on to the judging phase. Those selected to move forward will submit a video showcasing their impact on students and the community, and what distinguishes them as a top educator in our region. 

De-Biasing Phase – All applications are reviewed and any identifying information is blacked out. Names, employers, or other identifying information are always removed without compromising the integrity of the application. 

Judging Phase – A new team of judges, made up of a team compiled of major sponsors for the event and previous Golden Apple recipients, view and score each video submission. Each video is viewed by each judge independently. Through scoring averages and a judges deliberation meeting, eight individuals and one team are selected as the Golden Apple recipients.