I’m sure you’ve noticed that “overwhelmed” is the new normal. Virtually everyone you speak with these days is insanely busy, drinking from fire hydrants, and relying on triage just to get through the variety of demands on their time.

Then there’s a group of people who take busy to a whole new level—piling various projects on top of their day jobs, flying from education world east to education world west and back several times a month, and going out of their way to support the education initiatives they deeply care about.

Most of the members of the Board of Governors are in this cadre of hyper-busy people, which is why I want to take a moment to thank them all for participating in the Bammy Awards selection process. Being privy to some of the specific demands on the lives of the Academy board members gives me a deep appreciation for the significance of their making time to review and select the Bammy Award honorees.

On that note, want to say a special thanks to those who voted on critical committees, including Linda Darling-Hammond, Diane Ravitch, Daniel Pink, Andrew Rotherham, Gail Manchin, Cheryl Scott Williams, Caroline Hendrie, Joy Resmovitz, Gail Connelly, Yasmina Vinci, Mark Ginsberg, Ellen Galinsky, Julie Walker, DonnaMazyck, Keith Krueger and John Musso. Also, a very special shout-out to John Merrow, whose spam filter simply refused to let the ballot through, but who contacted me doggedly, pursuing a solution right up to the deadline. If you have a moment to spare we’d appreciate it if you would tweet or post a shout-out to the people above and let them know we appreciate them.

The Bammy Awards have meaning, relevance and significance because of the extraordinary people involved-- from the Board of Governors to the Council of Peers, to all of you across the nation who took time out of your hectic schedules to nominate and vote during the various stages of the process. The 2013 Bammy selection process is now officially over. Heartfelt thanks to all for taking time to help call attention to what’s right in American education. Now it’s time to plan the celebration…

Some exciting announcements on the horizon. Stay tuned…

Smith out!