Amber Arellano named 2023 Educational Excellence Award recipient
DeWitt High School named Amber Arellano, executive director for The Education Trust-Midwest, a 2023 Educational Excellence Award recipient. The school community selected Arellano for her efforts in helping guide policymakers and legislators to pass meaningful legislation that will positively impact Michigan’s K-12 education system.
Educational Excellence awardees are selected by members of the DeWitt Creativity Group (DCG), a DeWitt High School teacher-founded group, that promotes educational excellence with a focus on innovation and placemaking.
“The work of The Education Trust-Midwest driven by the leadership of Amber Arellano is helping to empower teachers to provide better and more equitable learning outcomes/emotional support for all Michigan K-12 students,” explained Jason LaFay, DeWitt High School teacher and a co-founder of DCG.
As contributors and supporters of education, DeWitt’s Educational Excellence Award recipients have displayed a commitment to push an important and much-needed narrative of empathy, equity, wellness, and innovation.
“Thank you for this amazing honor. But, more importantly, thank you to the staff at DeWitt for the work that you do and for caring so much about the issues that are going on in our state around public education and for students of all different backgrounds,” expressed Arellano. “You share a commitment to all students in our state, a commitment to equity. That is the heart of what we do at The Education Trust-Midwest.”
2023 recipients include:
- Governor Gretchen Whitmer
- MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl
- The Education Trust-Midwest Executive Director Amber Arellano
- DeWitt High School Principal Matt Dodson
- Fox 47 Multimedia Journalist Lauren Shields
- High School Student Amelia Spencley
Over the last 10 years, the DCG has recognized students, teachers, administrators, support staff, public servants, businesses, arts organizations, and community leaders throughout the Greater Lansing Area and around the state. The group notes that in these crucial and trying times, the state of education is in dire need of leaders who have displayed consistent compassion in the best interests of providing a better tomorrow for students and those affiliated with the world of education.
