I have been looking forward to this blog post for weeks. The thought of all of the good feelings that would be generated by this year's Bammy Awards.The potential impact of honoring so much of what's right in American Education in one collective event. The possibilities offered by technology for sharing the celebration of the honorees with people all over the world through a live video stream was more exciting than my limited writing skills allow me to fully express. The two words we heard most frequently leading up to the Bammy Awards were "so excited." I'm so excited, we're excited, our team is excited, my students are so excited,the board is so excited to be participating in the Bammy Awards. It was clear from the tweets and emails coming in that people -- many people across the education village -- were excited about the Bammy Awards that would be presented on Saturday night. But somewhere between "so excited" and "this year the Bammy Award goes to…" the event and the excitement took a detour.

It's still early in the feedback loop to say definitively what happened. When we look back a year from now, will we call it a glitch or a catastrophe? Only time will tell, but it’s pretty safe to say that when significant voices express that they didn't appreciate the "entertainment," that selection was probably not the best. As the executive producer of the Bammy Awards, the buck stops with me. Ergo it follows that I owe an apology to the people who were deeply put off by the humorous performances intended to provide a mental and emotional break from the relentless pace of 24 substantive and meaningful presentations. To all of you who were not only not entertained but offended, I pause from the celebration to say I'm sorry and to thank you for your candid feedback on what needs to be done to get the spirit of the Bammy Awards back into the body of the event. To Lisa Murphy, a dedicated, accomplished, highly respected early childhood leader with a passion for speaking the truth as she sees it with a sharp, irreverent wit, I also apologize for miscasting your amazing talent and commitment to children.

We understand that recovering from disappointment is a process and we'll walk through that process together. Undoubtedly there will be more lessons to be gleaned from the 12-minute detour we took during the celebration, and everyone who supports the Bammy Awards should rest assured that no one will be devouring those lessons more voraciously than I will.

What's also clear is that an enormous amount of good transpired in the other 125 minutes that made up Saturday's Bammy Awards.

• Scores of educators were honored and beamed with a mixture of pride and humility as they held the weight of the Bammy Award that became a tangible symbol of the fact that their contributions and the contributions of all of their peers in their sector of the education village truly matter.
• There were audible gasps and celebratory shouts as honorees heard their names called and the audience showered them with applause, acknowledgement and recognition. You could feel the love and support coming from across the education village, being laser-focused for the first time on the importance of education professionals often overlooked, like school nurses, Head Start staff and school librarians.
• There were stories of people at home who couldn't attend the Bammy Awards but who watched on the streaming video from as far away as India and were inspired, motivated and proud to say that they are part of this education community.
• There were stories of people who found out via a tweet, text or call that they had received the honor and almost fell out of their seats with joy and excitement.
• Best of all, there were those who used their moment at the center of the village square to acknowledge all of the educators not present who are doing extraordinary work across this nation who deserved to be standing on the stage right with them.
• Post-event, I have personally received emails from many of the prominent leaders in education who attended -- emails peppered with words and phrases like “much needed,”“wonderful event,”“delighted to be a part of this,”“classy,”“long overdue,” “a wonderful celebration,”“we need to do more of this,” and “looking forward to next year.”

But for me the most meaningful feedback received on the event came from Mallory Fundora, the first student to ever receive a Bammy Award. The presentation was the last of the evening, intended to remind us all that at the end of the day, we do all of this in service of raising the next generation. I'll let her words close out this blog post.

"I feel like winning this award means that people take me seriously for the work that I am doing, instead of looking at me like I'm just a kid. I want people in the room since they are in education to understand that there are other kids like me in their classrooms and they could be overlooking them every day. I started Project Yesu when I was in the 6th grade; from then to now I have had 14 teachers (not counting my teachers for this year) out of those 14 teachers only 3 of them ever showed any interest in what I am doing in Uganda. This year it’s different, after my teachers found out that I won a Bammy, it’s like they realize that I am for real....

Mallory Fundora,

Founder of Project Yesu

Please post your comments to Twitter #bammyawards