2023 DLC Awards Recipients

The Digital Learning Collaborative (DLC) has the opportunity to work with so many amazing leaders and organizations around the world. We are excited to announce the following awards to recognize the hard work they have endured to implement their innovative ideas. 

Awards are given each year to honor individuals and organizations who have demonstrated a significant impact in key areas of K-12 digital learning during the past calendar year (February 2022 - January 2023). *We may not award a recipient for each award every year. Awards given are:

Individual Excellence in Digital Learning Award

Holly Brzycki

CAOLA

  • Holly Brzycki is an educator and change agent who embodies the spirit of selfless sharing, support, and collegiality across the digital learning field. Holly has supervised the Capital Area Online Learning Association (CAOLA) since 2009. In her tenure, the program grew into the largest online learning consortium in the state of Pennsylvania serving 140 schools from 11 different Intermediate Units. In this role, she has been a trailblazer and advocate for online learning options for students across Pennsylvania and has become a national leader in the field advocating for all students by networking with colleagues from other virtual schools, consortiums, and digital learning vendors. In these conversations, she offers her expertise, lessons learned, and other insight to help programs succeed. Holly is not afraid to speak up for what is best for students above all else and exemplifies student advocacy.

Research Impact Award

April Fleetwood

FLVS

  • Practitioners have known that among the student populations served by online courses are students who are hospitalized or homebound due to accident or illness, but this is not a well-studied population. April and her colleagues, Erik Black, Rick Ferdig, and Lindsay Thompson compared thousands of courses taken by students with a homebound or hospitalized designation to a comparison group of more than five million course enrollments, and demonstrated that grades were equivalent although the homebound/hospitalized students were more likely to withdraw before getting a grade. Their research not only shows that online learning can work for these students in great need, but also suggested viable steps for working with this vulnerable population.

Unsung Super Star Award (Individual)

Jon Fila

District 287

  • We are recognizing Jon for his focus on student inclusivity, and in particular his work to make sure that LGBTQ+ students are heard, recognized, and feel welcome in his school and district. His school website includes this statement: “We proactively serve those who have experienced trauma and neglect from traditional systems and peers. When we serve our marginalized populations, we send a powerful message and allow all students to thrive.” Jon does all this quietly but also pushes to make a broader impact across his district and his state. He somehow manages to do incredible work while still remaining unsung and underappreciated, but once you get to know him, you realize that behind the quiet voice and midwestern aversion to the spotlight, is a guy doing incredible work.

Unsung Super Star Award (School/District)

Virtual Arkansas DYS Campus

Arkansas

  • Virtual Arkansas is a State Virtual School serving schools throughout Arkansas to provide supplemental online courses, teachers, and services to augment local education opportunities. In 2017, Virtual Arkansas entered into a partnership with the Arkansas Division of Youth Services to produce an innovative learning model to provide high-quality teachers and education opportunities for adjudicated youth located in several facilities around the state. As a result of this partnership, the DYS students have been recognized for outstanding growth on the Arkansas state assessment and many have successfully transitioned back to their schools, careers, and society. The Virtual Arkansas teachers and the local DYS education coaches work as a team to successfully serve the educational needs of these students. About this program and the teachers in it, VA wrote “Our students know exactly who their teacher is, when the teacher is available, what the expectations are and that their teachers have a heart for them.” This is exactly the type of “relationships before rigor” approach that benefits these students the most.

Spirit of DLAC Award

2023 — Dr. Galey Colosimo

Utah Private School Association

Nominated by John Watson, DLC and DLAC co-founder

  • Dr. Colosimo is the president of the Utah Private School Association and the principal of Juan Diego Catholic High School outside Salt Lake City, in the foothills of the Wasatch Mountain range. That means Dr. Colosimo starts his day looking at mountains and spends his days moving them. Galey impressed everyone at ASU Prep with his steadfast commitment to equity and his generous spirit of collegiality while working with them to expand digital learning opportunities for his students. When any PD is offered at his school, he invites every single private school in the state to come—parochial and secular, near and far—so that they may also participate. After his school’s teachers were trained in blended learning pedagogy, he sent them out across the state to all the private schools who wanted to learn more about how to get digital learning started but didn’t have the personnel, funds, or time to make it happen on their own. Expanding access to all types of learning for all students is his passion and it’s so clear in the way he makes it his personal mission to make sure every school—not just his own—has what they need. He mentored other school leaders through detailed EANS funding applications and helped them understand the blended learning opportunities for their schools that it could bring. It’s no exaggeration to say that thousands of students across the state have had digital courses due to his efforts to provide the necessary learning for their teachers and leaders in order to make it happen. This work that he undertakes is largely thankless—and certainly there is no raise coming his way for increasing digital learning access to students all over the state.

2023 Lifetime Award — Mickey Revenaugh

Connections Academy

Nominated by John Watson, DLC and DLAC co-founder 

  • Mickey Revenaugh has shaped the field of K-12 online learning as much as any other individual, as a cofounder of Connections Academy, early and long-time board member of iNACOL, and tireless advocate for students everywhere, among many other roles. When she co-founded Connections Academy in 2001, online learning was new and very early stage. The concept of a fully online school—delivering all of a student’s education remotely—was largely unknown and misunderstood. Along with other pioneers in the field, Mickey vigorously told the stories of the students being served, to state education boards, legislatures, media, and just about anyone who would listen. Her advocacy transcends her work with Connections as she has been a supporter of all types of digital learning, from online courses to blended and hybrid schools.

2021 — Dan Mahlandt

Principal — Valor Preparatory Academy of Arizona

Nominated by John Watson, DLC and DLAC co-founder 

  • The Spirit of DLAC Award recognizes an individual who has selflessly supported colleagues and friends, going beyond expectations. Dan was our first Spirit of DLAC winner, setting a precedent for the meaning behind this award.

    I've known Dan for enough years that I've lost count. I got to meet him when we were on several speaking engagements together and found him to be focused on the needs of students as he first created innovative options in his Pennsylvania district, and then was recruited to run a hybrid charter school in Arizona. Amidst many discussions about instructional strategies, policies, and many other topics, Dan often found a way to link these key issues back to what is in the best interests of students.

    But those qualities--as valuable as they are--aren't why Dan received the first Spirit of DLAC award. There were two separate times when I had a personal issue and thought Dan might be able to help in a small way. Both times, he went far beyond what I asked or could have expected.

    The first is a sad case. Several years ago, a long-time friend who was a teacher in Pennsylvania had been diagnosed with a terminal disease. Her husband Dave was working through her illness, and caring for two teenage sons, when he called me for some guidance about how to navigate the health insurance system for educators in Pennsylvania. I had no idea, but I asked Dan to see what he might suggest. I could write paragraphs about the details, but the bottom line is that Dan was able to provide the guidance that helped Dave navigate the system and focus on his family. It's not like Dan had this information at his fingertips; he dug around and found what he could. And then he called me several times to find out if what he had found was useful, and to add additional guidance.

    The second case has a much happier ending. I have a nephew who struggled in high school, to the point of essentially dropping out. Many who join us at DLAC know these students, but for a family (and an uncle) addressing mental health issues in a teen who was previously engaged and active, these are hard issues to navigate. I was at a loss when I called Dan and told him this story and asked for guidance. This account would get too long--and risk violating FERPA laws!--so suffice to say that Dan's advice was incredibly helpful to getting my nephew back on track. My nephew is now a biochem major in college and doing great, and Dan continues to ask about him from time to time.

    In both these cases, Dan went above and beyond to help people who he didn't know, didn't even have a direct connection to. That's the Spirit of DLAC.

2022 – Ray Rose

Online Accessibility and Learning Evangelist — TxDLA

Nominated by John Watson, DLC and DLAC co-founder 

  • Ray Rose has been in our field for as long as anyone--25 years plus or minus--going back to his days with the Concord Consortium figuring out how to provide access to courses to students who didn't have all the options they should. Since then, he has stayed active in our field, in a variety of roles.

    He deserves lifetime achievement recognition--but this isn't that award. Instead, Ray's receiving the second Spirit of DLAC award recognizes that he is an unrelenting advocate of access for ALL students, and in the case of DLAC and the DLC, all attendees and educators.

    Ray looks at DLAC attendees--and reminds me that we need to be more diverse.

    Ray looks at DLAC sessions--and reminds me that we need to remember the needs of attendees, onsite and online, who may need accommodations.

    Ray looks at DLC resources--and reminds me that we need to make sure that our resources must be available to all who seek to use them.

    Ray doesn't just remind us of these issues. He suggests options and avenues and acknowledges that these issues are challenging but must be addressed.

    He's made DLAC and the DLC better, more accessible to more people, and reminds me that we must always strive to meet the needs of all attendees and members--and push them to reach all students. He doesn't do this because it's his job. To be honest, I have no idea what his job is these days--if he has one at all. I just know that he is the conscience of DLAC and the DLC, because he believes these issues are critically important. That's the Spirit of DLAC.