The award winner, Yolanda Tait-Sain, teaches Pre-K at Hutchinson Elementary School. The school is part of Detroit Public Community Schools.
The Michigan Lottery established the Excellence In Education awards in 2014 to recognize outstanding public-school educators across the state during the school year.
Winners of the weekly award receive a $2,000 cash prize. At the end of the school year, one of the weekly award winners will be selected to receive the Lottery’s Educator of the Year award and will receive a $10,000 cash prize.
Each winner also is featured in a news segment on the Lottery’s media partner stations: WXYZ-TV in Detroit, FOX 17 in Grand Rapids, FOX 47 in Lansing, WNEM-TV in Saginaw, and WWTV-TV in Traverse City. The news segment featuring Tait-Sain will air this evening.
Tait-Sain says her love of working with children led her to a career in education.
“I have always loved working with children. I love helping youth discover new things.”
Tait-Sain says her favorite activity to do with students is reading and telling stories.
“I love reading and telling stories to my students because it helps them use their imagination to bring the story to life.”
Tait-Sain was nominated for the award by a former student.
“Yolanda has been an important figure in my life since I was in fifth grade, when she came to work at Hutchinson. She has not only provided me a great education, but also all my children. Yolanda has spent the last 36 years being a great educator and leader and guiding me and my children to be successful and hardworking adults. I love and appreciate everything she has done and continues to do for our youth.”
Tait-Sain earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Western Michigan University. She has been an educator for 36 years, all at Hutchinson Elementary.
Excellence in Education award nominees are evaluated on the following criteria:
- Excellence – Their work consistently helps students and/or their schools or school districts advance to higher levels of academic achievement.
- Dedication – They consistently go above and beyond expectations to help students succeed.
- Inspiration – Their work inspires others around them to exceed expectations either academically or professionally.
- Leadership – They demonstrate clear leadership skills in their positions with their school or school districts.
- Effectiveness – The nominee’s work has clear and positive results on the educational advancement of students within the school or school district.