Nominate Your Teacher! Deadline Extended for The Tony Awards' 2017 Arts Education Honor

Great news! Submissions are now being accepted through Feb. 17 (extended from Feb. 10) for the third annual Tony Award for "Excellence in Theatre Education Award," presented by the Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).

The honor will be bestowed to the teacher at the Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11, 2017, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Submissions are accepted online for K-12 theatre educators at an accredited institution or recognized community theatre organization. Anyone-from students and school administrators, to friends, neighbors and family-can submit a worthy teacher for consideration. He or she must be a teacher whose position is dedicated to and/or includes aspects of theatre education. Submissions may be made at www.TonyAwards.com/EducationAward and participants are encouraged to join in on the conversation with #applaudmyteacher.

Additionally, fans, students and educators are invited to celebrate inspirational teachers by using #applaudmyteacher in honor of Teacher Appreciation Day. Starting on Monday, May 1, everyone is encouraged to post pictures, stories and videos across social media to celebrate their favorite theatre teachers and educators.

Last year's honoree was Marilyn McCormick, a drama teacher at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Mich. McCormick and the Cass Tech students were informed of her selection by a surprise visit to McCormick's classroom by Renée Elise Goldsberry, a 2016 Tony Award winner for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for her starring role in Broadway's "Hamilton." Goldsberry is a CMU alumna and served on last year's judge's panel.

"Please take the time to recommend your teachers, mentors, administrators. They are the ones who plant the seeds and make the garden grow," McCormick said. "They are the ones who work tirelessly and for very little monetary gain so that a field of affirmative living can grow and ultimately change the world. Recommend a teacher of the arts so that all of their passion and compassion will not be in vain. That recommendation alone will change their world because it represents gratitude. There is so much power, inspiration and love when gratitude is displayed. These nominations are tangible displays of that."