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It takes a village of educators — from volunteers to teachers to administrators — to raise a child through Utah's school system.
The 11 winners of the 2016 Huntsman Award for Excellence in Education take their duties beyond classrooms and offices, reaching out to parents and students at home, in their own languages and even on YouTube.
Selected from about 100 nominees, the six men and five women — three administrators, seven teachers and one volunteer — were schduled to be honored Friday evening at the Little America Hotel by philanthropists Jon and Karen Huntsman. This is the 24th year of the awards.
The honorees each receive a $10,000 prize. Here's a glance at this year's winners:
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A different kind of homework • The principal at Ogden's James Madison Elementary doesn't stop at inviting families to attend school carnivals and sit in on classes. Vincent Ardizzone also visits his students and their parents at home, sometimes helping to drag youngsters — mostly sixth graders — out of bed.
"If we can help in the morning, that's what it's about," Ardizzone said. "We're trying to do the best we can in our community to go forward."
James Madison is a Title 1 school, meaning it receives federal assistance because it is in a low-income area. But Ardizzone doesn't want poverty to stand in the way of a good education.
It's one reason the 42-year-old Belgium native was nominated as an outstanding educator by two colleagues.
"We've created a family environment. I attribute that to him," said Jennifer Godin, a school counselor.
She sometimes accompanies Ardizzone and other staff members on home visits to emphasize the value of children attending class. Parents of many of Ardizzone's students work multiple jobs, so school involvement often takes a backseat.
Often, Godin said, parents explain they didn't know how to report a student was sick, or express uncertainty about how the school operates.
Many take Ardizzone up on his invitations to join their grade schoolers in class.
After Godin and a colleague nominated their administrator, Ardizzone arrived at work in April to find an unannounced school assembly, where he was surprised with a $10,000 check and the award.
"The only reason I was chosen was because of everybody around me," Ardizzone said.
That $10,000 is all his, though — recipients are allowed to spend the prize only on themselves, not their schools.
Two other administrators received the Huntsman Award this year for engaging with students and parents. Weber School District's Nick Harris, principal at Orion Junior High, helped a seventh grader with a GPA of 0.6 overcome challenges at home by providing academic and emotional support. And as vice principal at Salt Lake City's Lincoln Elementary school, Curt Hanks brought in a liaison to help teachers better connect with Latino families and created Latino night at the school.
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New school • In Aaron Hadfield's Brighton High classroom this week, a student representing Egypt declared war on his classmate, representing neighboring Israel.
Israel responded by enlisting help from its allies Japan, South Korea and the United States.
The result was a lopsided number of "power blocks" — a stand-in for military force — in Israel's favor as the two student prepared to roll their dice.
"You need to have a real sense of the balance of power before you go to war," Hadfield told the class.
After 15 years teaching, Hadfield is best known at Brighton High for his American Problems class, a popular elective that splits its time between traditional lectures and immersive simulations.
To learn about totalitarian governments, the lights are dimmed and a dictator is chosen to sit on a throne while their peers sit silently in uniforms.
That simulation is followed by one on civil rights, in which student lawyers present oral arguments before a teenage supreme court.
For a unit on U.S. politics, the class drafts a partisan platform and nominates a candidate through convention voting.
And the year ends with the foreign policy simulation, in which students adopt a national identity to create coalitions, sign treaties and occasionally mobilize for armed conflicts.
"Experience is the best teacher," Hadfield said. "When [students] have an experience, when they are really here doing it, they never forget that."
Other 2016 Huntsman Award winners also are known for using nontraditional classroom models.
At Cottonwood High School, chemistry teacher Dennis Hummer uses what is known as a "flipped" classroom for his honors chemistry course.
Under that model, students watch videos of Hummer's lectures at home, freeing up more classroom time for group projects and experiments.
The 28-year educator has posted 187 YouTube video lectures that have been watched more than 1.6 million times.
And South Summit Elementary teacher Courtney Thomas is known for incorporating music into her lessons and encouraging students to see the fun in learning.
Thomas, a 13-year educator, begins each week by having her fourth grade students share personal achievements as fellow students cheer "success."
Hadfield said he plans to give his award to his wife, who makes it possible for him to spend late nights and weekends planning and orchestrating his classroom simulations.
"There's no way I could do this without her," he said.
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Persistence pays • There's no such thing as a bad kid, according to special education teacher Dorothy Johnson.
One student who came into her class at Manti Elementary had been assigned to a behavior unit at another school that made him feel he'd never be able to function in a mainstream class.
Johnson didn't believe that. So she set about figuring out what they could do together to improve his social skills and academics.
"Kids aren't all the same," she said, "but they can all learn."
She spent more one-on-one time with the young man, and gave him time to walk around and expend energy. Now he no longer hides under the coats, runs away or lies down in protest. He's socializing, paying attention in class and has no behavior issues — and it's all due to Johnson, said Principal Karen Soper.
"She made him feel like he was a good boy instead of a bad boy," said Soper, who has worked with Johnson for 16 years.
Johnson continually advocates for kids, and never looks at it as a job — even though she often worked through lunches and until 9 at night, Soper said.
"I've never seen her stop, in all the years I've worked with her," Soper said. "There's always more she thinks she can do."
Instead of heading back to the classroom this fall, Johnson will be preparing to serve a mission in Chicago for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She wanted to "go out quietly," Soper said, and didn't want any kind of celebration or formal farewell.
So Johnson was more than shocked when Karen Huntsman came into her classroom last month to present the award.
She kept saying "Why me? It's all these people I work with who make me look good," Soper recalls.
Her colleagues disagree. Third-grade teacher Sonja Jensen also nominated Johnson, writing "I stand in awe of her compassion and dedication on a daily basis. ... We are so blessed to have this superhero on our team."
Park City School District's Treasure Mountain Jr. High also is lucky to have English and journalism teacher Julie Hooker, wrote colleagues who nominated her. Hooker has established a school food pantry for students and created a special program for gifted and talented students to encourage them to stay focused on academics.
In Emery School District, Melissa Anderson, a volunteer of 16 years who has helped Ferron Elementary students with reading and created personalized gifts for the young scholars, also won the prize. Anderson is a good example for students of overcoming adversity. Despite having limited use of her extremities, she has learned calligraphy.
In Salt Lake City, Dillworth Elementary's Cathy Johnson is known for making students better writers and also better dancers. She teaches students to waltz or do the electric slide, in addition to making them laugh. Her kindness also is remembered by former students as they grow up. She routinely attends their weddings and other celebrations.
About 250 miles south, at Cedar City Middle School, band teacher David Palmer also forms connections that last beyond graduation. In the 2016-2017 school year, Palmer estimates, 450 students, or 46 percent of the school, will be enrolled in the band program. And students still come back to work with him even after they graduate. Many who go to Southern Utah University return to intern as his co-teacher.
Twitter: @anniebknox, @bjaminwood 2016 Huntsman Award for Excellence in Education recipients
James Madison Elementary School Principal Vincent Ardizzone
Ogden
17 years in education
Dilworth Elementary School sixth-grade teacher Cathy Johnson
Salt Lake City
31 years in education
South Summit Elementary fourth-grade teacher Courtney Thomas
Kamas
13 years in education
Orion Junior High Principal Nick Harris
Harrisville
13 years in education
Treasure Mountain Junior High teacher Julie Hooker
Park City
15 years in education
Cedar Middle School band and Spanish teacher David Palmer
Cedar City
21 years in education
Sky View High School Vice Principal Curt Hanks
Smithfield
34 years in education
Brighton High School teacher Aaron Hadfield
Cottonwood Heights
15 years in education
Cottonwood High School chemistry teacher Dennis Hummer
Salt Lake city
28 years in education
Manti Elementary special education teacher Dorothy Johnson
Manti
16 years in education
Ferron Elementary volunteer Melissa Anderson
16 years in education