The New Hampshire Excellence in Education Awards, lovingly referred to as the “ED”ies, is proud to celebrate its 19th year of honoring teachers, administrators, volunteers and schools of excellence.

This gala event, held last night at the Center of New Hampshire Radisson Hotel in Manchester, is the result of a collaborative effort of a majority of the statewide education associations.

The “ED”ies serve as a catalyst to highlight outstanding efforts of those being honored and uses their example to inspire and motivate others throughout the state.

This celebration of the best in education was the brainchild of businessman and State Board of Education member Fred Bramante, who, in 1993, approached the New Hampshire Teachers of the Year with the concept.

► Pick up a copy of today's New Hampshire Sunday News or check out our e-Edition for four pages honoring this year's "ED"ie honorees.

He felt that not enough was being done to thank those who are doing so much for our children. The Teachers of the Year agreed and decided to convene representatives from other statewide educational organizations to see if the concept was desirable.

The result was a unanimous “Yes!” and a steering committee was formed to plan the event. With lots of enthusiasm, this group established some broad criteria believing that the award winners should be selected by their peer groups, and knowing that the event would serve to provide greater recognition to these examples of excellence.

Also, the Board of Directors decided that it would be appropriate not only to recognize outstanding individual educators, but also to honor exemplary New Hampshire public schools. All public schools are invited to demonstrate their excellence using the school selection rubric which can be located at www.edies.org under Application Materials.

We are grateful to the businesses and we are grateful to the businesses and organizations that contribute their time and energy to the “ED”ies.