Awards and Competitions

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EdCom Award for Excellence in Programming

2022 AAM Awards Update: To maximize reach, engagement, impact, and learning for the museum field—as well as the celebration of our inspiring award winners—AAM awards programs are currently under review and temporarily on hold. This will likely result in a shift of award submission deadlines, previously set to align around the AAM Annual Meeting & Museum Expo. We look forward to sharing more information later in 2022 through our website and member communications.

Please note for 2021 EdCom will be only offering the EdCom Award for Innovation and Education–Pandemic Edition.

This award recognizes exemplary creativity in museum educational programming. To be eligible, the program must have clearly articulated goals/outcomes, be designed to achieve the goals/outcomes with the intended audiences, have concrete evidence of success through an evaluation process, have been presented three consecutive years, and reflect institutional commitment. Programs that clearly address one or more of the principles outlined in the AAM’s policy statement on public education, Excellence and Equity, will be given special consideration.

Nominations are now closed.

There is a $25 fee for each entry. This fee goes towards the production of the awards and towards paying for one ticket for the Excellence in Programming Award winner to the EdCom Luncheon where the awards are given out at the AAM Annual Meeting. Your nomination will not be considered complete until the fee has been paid. To pay the fee, visit http://ww2.aam-us.org/about-us/grants-awards-and-competitions/award-for-excellence-in-programming/application-fee. This link will reappear after you submit the nomination form below.

All EdCom Award Recipients receive the following recognition:

  • Honored at the AAM Annual Meeting
  • Awardees are featured in the Annual Award Issue of AAM’s Museum Magazine
  • Awardees receive recognition in EdCom’s e-newsletter
  • Awardees may be featured in a future national webinar or article on best practices in museum education
  • Awardees may be featured in a “Best Practices in Museum Education” Panel at the AAM Annual Meeting
  • All awardees receive an award, perfect for display in the most public of spaces

Questions? (no award submissions please) Please contact Brooke Rosenblatt, EdCom Awards Lead (rosenblattb (a) si (dot) edu).

Recipients

2020

  • History Unfolded
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

2019

  • Classroom-in-Residence
    Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA

2018

  • High School Apprenticeship Program
    New Bedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford, MA

2017

2016 (tie)

  • Subway Sleuths 
    The NY Transit Museum, Brooklyn, NY

  • Students Opposing Slavery International Summit 
    President Lincoln’s Cottage, Washington, DC

2015

  • Native American Fellowship Program
    Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA

2014

2013

  • Early Elementary Science Partnership (E2SP)
    The Field Museum, Chicago, IL

2012

  • Wildlife Career Ladder
    Bronx Zoo, Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, NY

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