ING Unsung Heroes
ING Unsung Heroes Celebrates 15 Years of Innovation and Creativity Among Nation's Teachers
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the ING Unsung Heroes program. Over the years, this program has recognized and awarded nearly 1,500 educators for their breakthrough projects to bring classroom teaching to new heights. To continue the celebration we would like to congratulate Rebecca Brewer, the 2011 First Place Winner. She was presented with her award on October 7th, and now she can put the $27,000 grant to work in the classroom.
Rebecca Brewer
School: Troy High School
Location: Troy, MI
Prize: $27,000
Brewer’s winning project, “Mini-Med School: Simulating Surgeries”, is designed to move 11th and 12th grade biology students at Troy High School from simply dissecting preserved specimens to also performing mock surgical procedures on the organs. After they go through classroom learning about the anatomy of the heart, the next day, they will dissect the preserved heart, and then the following day, they will learn that their “patient” had a heart attack, and they will have to diagnose and treat the symptoms. Additionally, medical experts that have an existing relationship with the school because of the medical job shadowing program with the local hospital will come in to talk to the students on relevant practice area days such as a cardiac surgeon on heart surgery day and a neurosurgeon on brain surgery day. 
Ultimately, Brewer will engage students in authentic learning experiences, igniting problem-solving through diagnosis of their patients and teach them new hands-on skills and techniques not typically taught in high school. She hopes it may inspire them to become the future doctors of tomorrow.
Accepting applications for the 2012 awards
Are you an educator with a class project that is short on funding but long on potential? Do you know a teacher looking for grant dollars? ING Unsung Heroes® could help you turn great ideas into reality for students.
For 15 years, and with nearly $3.5 million in awarded grants, ING Unsung Heroes has proven to be an A+ program with educators. The program’s “alumni” have inspired success in the classroom and impacted countless numbers of students. Each year, 100 educators are selected to receive $2,000 to help fund their innovative class projects. Three of those are chosen to receive the top awards of an additional $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000.
Applications for the 2012 awards are now available. The application deadline is April 30, 2012. To make it easier for applicants to fill in the required information, the non-essay portion of the application is now a fillable PDF. All that an applicant needs to do is download the PDF and type in that information directly. Applicants still need to complete the essay and budget sections in a separate Word document or other word processing program, and submit all application materials following the process outlined in the application.
Interview with 2008 First Place Winner Robert Ostmann
Connect with ING Unsung Heroes: 
