Kensington Creative & Performing Arts High School Teacher Wins National Teaching Award

Ismael Jimenez, an African American History teacher at Kensington Creative & Performing Arts High School in Philadelphia, has been given the prestigious national Honored National Teaching Award for October. As part of this award, Mr. Jimenez received a $5,000 cash award and a $1,000 DonorsChoose.org gift card. He also had his story composed by Tre Johnson, a Rolling Stone journalist, and former educator.

Jimenez’s classroom is decorated with the African American heroes of the past and class discussions are challenging, bright and hopeful of an inclusive future. His student, Donovan Bennefield, who is featured in the story, sees Jimenez as much more than just a teacher. He’s like an older brother who advises about how to navigate life outside the halls of high school. That’s all possible because of the strong relationships Mr. Jimenez cultivates inside the classroom. Jimenez says:

“We accept everyone. It’s not a classroom, it’s a family. If you’re there for one day, you’ll see it’s okay…to argue, to get mad at each other, to challenge each other.”

Read the full story of Ismael Jimenez and Donovan Bennefield at www.honored.org/ismael-jimenez. Honored will be celebrating Jimenez and Bennefield the entire month of October.

Honored is a nonprofit organization dedicated to keeping great teachers in the classroom and to inspiring a new generation of talent to pursue teaching. Each month, Honored shines a spotlight on a teacher who has changed the life of a single student. The Honoree receives a $5,000 cash award, and Honored partners with a world-class writer to tell their story. Honorees are selected from K-12 teachers of all subjects at public, private and charter schools across the country. Honored’s National Advisory Board includes luminaries such as the internationally best-selling author Michael Lewis, DonorsChoose.org founder Charles Best, Teach For America founder Wendy Kopp, and FEED cofounder Lauren Bush Lauren.

For more information about Honored, visit honored.org. For regular updates on Honored and our monthly Honorees, follow and like us on facebook.com/Honored.org, twitter.com/honored and instagram.com/honored.