Announcing 2021 20 Under 2 $250 Book Prize

On Thursday, May 13th, we will announce this year’s 20 Under 2 honorees! The Teaching and Leading Initiative of Oklahoma is excited to share that thanks to the generous support of T.D. Williamson and Magic City Books, this year’s honorees will receive a $250 gift card to Magic City Books to build their classroom library. 20 Under 2 award winners will also receive a gift box that includes a custom 20 Under 2 plaque, a Round Table membership from Magic City Books, a custom notebook and other goodies.

The 20 Under 2 Novice Teaching Awards celebrate emerging teachers who are setting the pace for excellent teaching and making Oklahoma’s future look bright. The awards were created to recognize the talent and dedication of Oklahoma’s newest teachers amidst a challenging landscape. In recent years, Oklahoma educators have grappled with limited resources, large class sizes, and low pay, and this year teachers faced a global pandemic along with new forms of distance learning. For educators just beginning their profession, these challenges are especially difficult. After five years, only about half of new teachers remain in the classroom and schools struggle to recruit high-quality teacher candidates. The 20 Under 2 awards acknowledges these difficulties, and honors new teachers’ whose emerging strengths and talents are needed now more than ever.

Watch for the full list of Oklahoma’s 2021 20 Under 2 honorees on May 13th, and tune in to social media to learn more about these 20 top educators in the weeks to come. Find us on Instagram and Facebook @tlioklahoma.