Awardees
The Most STOP-Enabled Innovators of 2021
Proving that learning happens when transformational practices are in place for students, each of our winners this year is delivering outstanding results for students overlooked and underrepresented on the honor rolls of traditional US education. Started and led by education entrepreneurs, many of whom started out as the students they serve, they are breathing new life into communities who have been failed by the traditional system. Get to know them – they represent the future of education for all of us!
2021 YASS PRIZE WINNER
Discovery Center of Springfield
It was a museum. And now it’s a school.
The 2021 Finalists
The 2021 Semifinalists
The Yass Award is about celebrating and rewarding those who make students the priority.”
The foundation of any society is a good education.
I'm a Yass Prize finalist from last year.
And through that, we were able to open up our second campus in the city of Wichita.
The Yass Prize is truly changing the landscape of education options across the nation,
and I couldn't be more grateful for what it's done for us, and helping us serve more students and families.
Being a part of this experience has amplified the access we can give to our students in a way that nothing has, and the access is just critical.
The Yass Prize is almost like Burning Man for education reform.
Education is one of the most fundamental pillars for democratizing opportunities for success that we have in our society.
It’s thanks to organizations like the Yass Prize that our children are going to have a better tomorrow.
The Yass Prize is centered around ensuring that this [program] provides you a stepping stone...
We don’t want you to rinse, wash, repeat. We want you to build and sustain.
Being a part of the [Yass] family confirmed that what I'm doing is right,
going against the common core and focusing on what we know is important for kids really works, and having a network of people now that also agree was super huge.
I’m dreaming bigger, bolder, and more bodacious [because of the Yass Prize].
It has helped me raise the ceiling on what’s possible.
We have a tremendously transformative model that could stand for a little disruption.
The Yass experience has given us “permission” to do exactly that.
The Yass Prize process has created an awareness of the education freedom movement within churches and communities.
It's given us an opportunity to start critical discussions with our congregations, parents, community leaders and members, about the laws that govern education in Pennsylvania.
In a state where alternative education is often overlooked, the Yass community helps us shine.
The Yass Prize has empowered our youth, families and community by bringing great visibility to our efforts.