Golden Apple Award Winners

Congratulations to National Louis University’s
2012 Golden Apple winners:

Monique Blakes
Oscar DePriest Elementary School (Chicago)
1st grade

Media Coverage: WBEZ 91.5

‌Pamela Kelly
Naper Elementary School (Naperville)
1st grade 

Media Coverage: Daily News Herald

For more than 125 years, National Louis University has been providing teachers with exceptional preparation and professional development. From our roots established by Elizabeth Harrison to our programs focused on diverse learners in urban settings, we consistently produce teacher innovators who excel in their fields.

Fifty-nine National Louis University alumni have received the Golden Apple Excellence in Teaching Award since its inception in 1986. Nearly 25 percent of all Golden Apple awardees—and their students—benefit from an NLU education. This group of winners is made up of teachers from both the Golden Apple Chicago and the Golden Apple Rockford communities.

Dominic Belmonte, president and CEO of the Chicago-based Golden Apple Foundation, said about National-Louis University: "It's become no surprise to me that invariably each year a Golden Apple recipient is discovered to have a National Louis heritage. While the process we employ towards championing the excellence we seek does not focus on where the degree was obtained, time and again we discover to our delight that the path the excellent teachers we honor take passes through NLU."

The 2012 honorees, all 4th-8th-grade teachers, were selected from a pool of more than 600 nominees. Chicago’s Golden Apple recipients each receive tuition-free sabbaticals at Northwestern University, a personal computer, $3,000, and induction into the Golden Apple Academy of Educators.

Previous NLU Golden Apple Award Winners