The Terri Lynne Lokoff Teacher Awards
2024 Applications Are Open!
Applications for the 2024 Terri Lynne Lokoff Teachers Awards are now open! Up to 30 early childhood education teachers will be recognized for their hard work and dedication to their classroom, their staff, and most importantly the young learners they are educating. Each award recipient receives a cash prize, a paid trip to the historic city of Philadelphia to participate in the Terri Lynne Lokoff Teacher Awards weekend-long celebration, ongoing opportunities to connect with peers, exchange ideas, as well as ongoing professional learning and program enrichment opportunities. Please see the application requirements below or reach out to teacheraward@firstup.org for more help!
Teacher Awards History
In 1994, Kay and Fred Lokoff launched the Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Teacher Awards to honor their daughter Terri who was a devoted childcare teacher. The Awards are designed to recognize and celebrate the achievements of outstanding early care and education teachers and bring attention to the critical role these teachers play in the lives of young children.
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How to Apply
The Teacher Awards acknowledge the critical role of childcare teachers in providing quality early care and education. Childcare teachers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and on U.S. Military bases and installations around the world are invited to apply.
Eligibility Requirements:
- Applicants must be full-time childcare teachers employed in a home, group or center-based program that is fully compliant with local and state regulations for operating childcare programs. Applicants must work a minimum of 32 hours per week, 12 months per year at the same center. Teachers must be with the same children for 10 consecutive months.
- Applicants must be working as paid, full-time childcare teachers in their current regulated program for a minimum of 36 consecutive months (3 years) by December 2023.
- Applicants may apply having worked in a teaching position for the same childcare entity for 36 consecutive months (3 years) in more than one location.
- Applicants employed by a U.S. Military childcare facility in their current location for a minimum of 12 consecutive months.
- Programs must be open a minimum of 9 hours a day, 5 days a week 12 months per year.
- Applicants must be teachers of infant, toddler or preschool age children.
- Only one application per center may be submitted.
- Full day Head Start with wrap-around care programs. Teachers must be with the same children all day.
The following conditions will render an applicant ineligible:
- Teacher Award recipients who have won the Award twice.
- Teachers of part-day Head Start without Wrap-around Care Programs or other part day preschool programs.
- Teachers of kindergarten children in childcare or other settings.
- Teachers of school age children in child care settings. (i.e. before/after school programs).
- Administrative Teachers (staff who have administrative responsibilities that prevent them from being a full-time teacher.)
- Co-teachers or teaching teams are not eligible to share this award (On one recipient per award).
- Terri Lynne Lokoff Teacher Award winners from 2019 to present.
- Projects that include capital improvements to centers/homes will not be considered.
- Applications completed, revised or modified by anyone other than the applicant (including but not limited to a grant writer, director, or any administrative staff) are not eligible.
Additional information:
- Only one teacher may be named per application.
- Multi-site agencies may submit applications for each site.
- Terri Lynne Lokoff Teacher Award winners from 1994 to 2018 may reapply.
Our Terri Lynne Lokoff Teacher Awards 2023 Winners!
The Five
Sherry Mathon - Illinois
Rebecca Cline - Indiana
Jennine Gibbons - Pennsylvania
Michelle Brown - Wisconsin
Kathleen Wolfe - Wisconsin
The 2023 Terri Lynne Lokoff Award Winners
Christina Gutierrez - Arizona
Tina LaBarbera - Illinios
Amanda Conmy - Indiana
Nichole Greene - Iowa
Lakshini Wijeweera - Maryland
Chelsea Brisbin - Nebraska
Sarah Klein - Oregon
Crystal Celender - Pennsylvania
Tina DePativo - Pennsylvania
Julieth Esquivel - Pennsylvania
Briana Fitzgerald - Pennsylvania
Melody Graves - Pennsylvania
Julia Holzworth - Pennsylvania
Thomas Jeffcoat Jr. - Pennsylvania
Sierra Jenkins - Pennsylvania
Vaughn Johnson - Pennsylvania
Festime Kola - Pennsylvania
Andrea LaMar - Pennsylvania
Melissa Matos - Pennsylvania
Selena Mercado - Pennsylvania
Katherine Ruiz Vargas - Pennsylvania
Scotlun Ryan - Pennsylvania
Sylvia Valli Abalos - Utah
Ratoshia Coles - Virginia
