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Join us in celebrating Berol Dewdney, a PreK teacher at the Commodore John Rogers School in Baltimore, Maryland, and Tara Hughes, a special education teacher at the Nye Early Childhood Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, who have joined a small but growing cadre of early care practitioners earning their respective state Teacher of the Year awards. Both are now in the running for National Teacher of the Year. Significantly, these awardees have been recognized for their commitment to early childhood, play and inclusion.

In an interview, Dewdney remarked, “I think about my kids. I think about how they’re the real teachers of the year. I think about Dakari and Kiara and Takai … they bring the leadership, and the love and the joy. It’s our life’s greatest privilege to elevate their power and to work with their families. And this platform, this space, is completely theirs.”

Dewdney continued, “What serves my children best is play-based learning that allows kids the space to learn in the place where they learn best. Play is the language of students, it’s where they’re the experts and it’s where they’re able to have a lot of fun and have a lot of joy, but also develop the critical executive functioning skills that determine life outcomes.”

Hughes commented, “All of these students—with diverse abilities and backgrounds—they play, socialize, they learn together [and] respect, kindness, friendships and understanding of differences really grow.”

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