2025 Carthage Tiger Excellence Awards Nominations are now live.

The Carthage Tiger Excellence Award nominations for 2024-2025 are now live! Click this link to fill out the online nomination form. Nominations are due by Monday, February 17, 2025. 
In 2023, after careful consideration, we decided to give our longstanding awards program a fresh new identity. The Golden Key Awards, which have proudly stood for excellence in our district for the past 30 years, are now known as the Carthage Tiger Excellence Awards. This name change better reflects the significance and pride associated with these accolades within our community.
Rest assured, all criteria for the awards remain unchanged and are detailed below for your reference.
Last year, we also announced the addition of a new award category: The Rising Star.
The Rising Star Award is designed to spotlight emerging leaders in education who are in their first or second year of service. This award seeks to honor individuals who have shown remarkable growth and dedication to their profession, demonstrating increased levels of leadership, responsibility, and impact within a relatively short period.
Below is information about the Carthage Tiger Excellence Award program:
 
PURPOSE
 Teachers, administrators, and other certified staff members play a vital role in the lives of our children. The purpose of the Carthage Tiger Excellence Awards program is to recognize excellence in the teaching profession and to inform the public of the exceptional quality of instruction in the Carthage community.
 
 CATEGORIES
 One teacher, administrator, or other certified staff member is honored in each of the following categories:
 Early Childhood—Third Grade (EC-3), Fourth—Sixth Grade (4-6), Seventh—Eighth Grade (7-8), and Ninth—Twelfth Grade (9-12)
 
 ELIGIBILITY
 * A nominee must be a certified teacher, administrator, or other certified staff member (counselors, media specialists, psychometrists, psychological examiners, speech therapists, technology coordinators, vocational resource educators, and others not typically considered a classroom teacher) who instructs at any grade level from Early Childhood through grade twelve on a daily basis.
 * A nominee must be teaching or administering during the current school year in a public or private school in the Carthage community.
* A nominee must have worked in Carthage for 2+ years to be considered for all categories besides the Rising Star. 
* A nominee for the Rising Star Award must be in their first or second year of education. 
 * A nominee may not be a previous winner of the Golden Key or Carthage Tiger Excellence Award. (unless their previous win was for the Rising Star Award)
 
 CRITERIA FOR NOMINATION
 The most important criterion to be used in evaluating teachers or administrators for nomination is their ability to inspire students of all backgrounds and abilities to reach their full potential through the educational process.
 
 Submit a nomination by Monday, February 17, 2025