ETHS Teacher Corey Winchester Wins Golden Apple Award

EVANSTON, IL — Evanston Township High School teacher Corey Winchester was presented Monday with the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Winchester, who teaches U.S. History; Sociology of Class, Gender and Race and the Critical Leadership Development independent study program was selected as a finalist last month out of more than 550 nominations. He was named as one of 10 award winners for 2019, as eligibility for the Golden Apple was for the first time opened up to nominees from across Illinois.

"I’m overwhelmed and generally left speechless by this honor," Winchester told Patch. "I’m very thankful to be recognized for this work. I’m particularly thankful for the community of folks that I’m surrounded by: student, parents, colleagues, my family and my friends and I think that this recognition, although there’s a lot that for which I can claim, is more so about all the folks that have been involved in the work with me and in the spaces I’ve occupied since I’ve started teaching professionally in 2010."

Fellow educators, students and members of the school community nominate teachers who demonstrate long-term positive impacts on the lives of students.

The award is the latest of many prestigious honors for Winchester, a Philadelphia native whose teaching has been recognized repeatedly over nearly a decade at ETHS. He has previously been granted a Fulbright-Hays award, an award of excellence from ETHS District 202, a Those Who Excel award from the Illinois State Board of Education and a Teach Plus fellowship.

Accepting the award during his second period class, Winchester reflected on "all of the folks who invested in me" and all the students he has taught.

"Teaching is all about building relationships, radical love, and humanizing one another and I’ll keep doing that as long as I’m able to do so. "

“Corey Winchester is truly one of the best of the best in teaching, a teacher who makes a big difference," said Superintendent Eric Witherspoon. "ETHS is fortunate that he is teaching here, having such a positive impact on our students’ learning and lives."

Winchester has been a leader with the ETHS student group Students Organized Against Racism, or SOAR, and served for four years on the board of the nonprofit organization Evanston Scholars, which helps first-generation, low-income and students of color access a college education.

“We are so proud of Corey and his work with his students,” said Marcus Campbell, ETHS principal and assistant superintendent.

Every moment counts and every interaction with students and their families — whether inside or outside of the classroom — is urgent, according to Winchester, who is well-known around the ETHS community for his "passion for teaching and his commitment to equality," according to the Golden Apple Foundation. Winchester's work has focused on helping marginalized students find educational success, using history as a vehicle to help students develop a sense of self, a social consciousness and a sense of community.

Colleagues told the foundation he develops relationships grounded in trust and respect with students, parents and peers. Parents said students in Winchester's class can find the trajectory of their lives changed "profoundly" for the better, according to the foundation.

Golden Apple CEO Alicia Winckler said honoring outstanding teachers "helps to elevate the teaching profession to its rightful place of honor." She said quality and passion of Golden Apple winners helps foster an environment that inspires students to keep working to achieve their dreams. "Their work as educators is critical to realizing a better future and we are proud to recognize their valuable contributions.”

This year's award winners were selected among the 32 finalists by master educators who review video of classroom work, observe the teachers in person and conduct interviews with colleges, administrators, students and members of the school community.

Winchester will receive $5,000 in cash and a free spring sabbatical at Northwestern University. As a Golden Apple winner, he will become a fellow in the Golden Apple Academy of Educators, which supports current and future educators. Northwestern, from which Winchester graduated in 2010, is a partner in the 34-year-old Golden Apple program.

“In honoring and developing K-12 teachers, Northwestern University and the Golden Apple Foundation are committed to improving teaching, learning, and the lives of kids across the state of Illinois,” said Timothy Dohrer, director of the Master of Science in Education Program at Northwestern University’s School of Education & Social Policy.

All 2019 award winners will be featured in an hourlong public television broadcast. A live stream of the show will be available May 18 on the Golden Apple Facebook page. An edited version will be broadcast later on WTTW-TV and other public broadcasting channels.

Nominations are currently open for the 2020 Golden Apple awards. While this year's edition was limited to high school teachers, next year's award will be open to outstanding teachers of students in fourth through eighth grades.

Earlier: ETHS Teacher Corey Winchester Named Golden Apple Finalist