Transformative and regenerative for them—and you.
Along with each Bezos Scholar, we invite an educator from the student’s school to take part in our program. It’s an extraordinary opportunity to work one-on-one with an exceptional, engaged student for an academic year as you build your mentoring skills based on the latest scientific understanding of how adolescents learn, develop and lead.
Selected by students.
To be considered for the program, you must be nominated by a student that is applying. Read more in our Application Guide to understand the educator Scholar’s role, who is eligible, what characteristics strong nominees have, and how to nominate a strong candidate. There are also tips for the educator nominee on what they should include on their nomination form to best support the student applicant.
Not for teachers only.
Any staff person, in any position, at an applying student’s school is eligible to be a student’s educator nominee. So is any staff member of a community organization partnering with the student’s school community. To be eligible, you must also plan on returning to work for the student’s school or for the organization serving the school for the following academic year. Sorry—educators who are also an applicant’s parent, guardian, or relative are not eligible. Nor are private tutors or counselors.
A year-long investment in your student—and yourself.
You’ll get a lot from your Bezos Scholars experience—and you’ll give a lot, too. You should be prepared to fully participate in a year-long experience, including a June trip to the Aspen Ideas Festival and all necessary collaboration with scholars as they launch their community change projects. We estimate that you’ll spend eight- to 20-hours per week on program-related activities. Read more about the experience.
An essential part of the program.
As an educator scholar, you’ll serve as your student’s mentor, advocate and ally. You’ll provide coaching and helpful, non-judgmental feedback and assist students in setting feasible goals and action plans. You’ll teach student leadership and critical thinking and help students manage their community change projects. Successful educator scholars remember that our program’s community change projects are student-led and directed, but have Scholars’ backs every step of the way.
This program has transformed the lives and motivational level for so many teachers. You have reinvigorated my passion for teaching.
Build your mentoring muscles.
Our program emphasizes measurable outcomes for students and educators alike. We aim for educator scholars to make gains in the following areas:
Advocacy for students
The ability to support, amplify the development of student voices, ideas and actions.
Capacity for fostering student leadership
Educators’ ability to believe in students’ success while helping to improve students’ leadership efficacy, resilience and sense of purpose.
Support of student agency
The ability to help students start and sustain a goal-directed effort.
Sense of belonging
The degree to which Educator Scholars feel a sense of affiliation and connection to the program and can instill a sense of belonging in others.
Curious what the educator nominee form entails?
In the student’s application, once they submit their educator nominee’s contact information, the educator will get an email from Kaleidoscope (the platform hosting our application) asking them to set up an account so they can log in and access it. We recommend that educators DO NOT use their school email in case security settings block the email.
The online form asks educators to rate the student on the following selection criteria, compared to other students they have worked with throughout their career:
- Intellectual Curiosity: The student has pushed the boundaries of their own learning and performed exceptionally well in school and other learning arenas.
- Demonstrated Leadership: The applicant is actively engaged in their community as a leader in various ways.
- Readiness to Engage: The applicant is skillful at balancing community engagement, academics, and extracurricular/family commitments while working on how to prioritize commitments to engage in a healthy work/life balance.
The form also asks educators to complete the following short answer questions:
- Briefly share why you’re recommending this student for the program.
- Share one tangible example of how the student made a positive impact in their community including what action they took, and why.
- From your assessment, what are two areas for growth this student has related to their own leadership skills?
- Why are you excited to partner with this student and other student and community leaders to develop and launch a community change project?
- How do you see your experience as a Bezos Educator Scholar elevating your own work in the classroom, the larger school community, and beyond?
Finally, it asks what your overall recommendation for this student’s candidacy for the program is. The form is confidential and not shared with the student and we estimate completing it will take 20-35 minutes, which must be done by the deadline.