The Women Leaders from the Special Education Foundation is happy to announce the return of The Starfish Awards in June of 2025.
We are in the early planning stages for next year’s event, but we want to give you a heads-up that nominations for next year’s awards will open later this month.
Using the parable of the Starfish Story, the Starfish Award is reserved for individuals who have brought about significant change through seemingly small yet deeply meaningful actions.
Ideal candidates for SEF’s Starfish Awards exhibit the following qualities:
- Consistently demonstrates unwavering compassion and kindness.
- Leaves a remarkable imprint on the lives of students and families within the Special School District and the 22 partner districts in St. Louis County
- Offers vital support during challenging circumstances.
- Their actions generate a ripple effect of positivity, creating a nurturing environment for all.
Here’s a video recognizing the 2024 Starfish Award Winners.
In addition, SEF will again recognize people in the St. Louis community who are making a difference in the lives of students with disabilities with our community awards. Our 2024 winners were:
- Dr Joylynn Pruit Adams, Starfish Leadership Award
- Debbie Bentele, Community Starfish Award
- Diane Buhr Engelsmann, Spirit of SEF Award
If you want to make a recommendation of someone we might want to consider for one of our community awards, please email us at info@sef-stl.org.
Nominations for the 2025 Starfish Awards open on Friday, October 18th!
Stay tuned for more details about next year’s event, and feel free to visit our website for updates.
