Twelve Colorado public schools are in the running for The Succeeds Prize, which awards $15,000 to four schools that exemplify transformational impact and excellence in STEM education.

As Colorado's "most prestigious awards and recognition event honoring transformational public schools and educators," The Succeeds Prize rewards the best of the best for educational impact and innovation, measuring the growth of students who have been traditionally underserved.
The Succeeds Prize is a celebration of Colorado’s educators – one that gives us the opportunity to recognize and reward what is working in our schools while also sharing these best practices with educators and schools statewide,” said Colorado Lt. Governor Donna Lynne.
Powered by nonprofit mindSpark Learning, Colorado Succeeds combines the resources and knowledge of 90 member Colorado companies and organizations (like 9News, Pinnacol Assurance, United Healthcare, and Wells Fargo) to identify and reward schools in four categories: Transformational Impact in an Elementary School (presented by TeleTech), Transformational Impact in a Middle School (presented by DaVita), Transformational Impact in a High School, and Excellence in STEM Education (presented by Ball Corp). The winning school in each category will receive a $15,000 prize. succeeds The selection committee starts with the state's 25 top-scoring schools in each category, according to performance data that's publicly available. They then narrow the field down to three in each category via a deliberation process that includes additional school performance measures. The final awards, which will be given on October 3 at a ceremony, are decided based on site visits to the finalist schools over the next month, which will include interviews with school leaders, teachers, parents, and community members.
Finalists include: Transformational Impact in an Elementary School 
  • Pioneer Elementary School, Fort Morgan
  • Soaring Eagles Elementary School, Colorado Springs
  • Valdez Elementary School, Denver
Transformational Impact in a Middle School 
  • KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy, Denver
  • Mountain Vista Community School, Colorado Springs
  • Victory Preparatory Academy, Commerce City
Transformational Impact in a High School
  • Denver School of Science and Technology: Green Valley Ranch High School, Denver
  • Holly High School, Holly
  • Thomas MacLaren State Charter School, Colorado Springs
Excellence in STEM Education   
  • Bristol Elementary School, Colorado Springs
  • Denver School of Science and Technology: Byers Middle School, Denver
  • Strawberry Park Elementary School, Steamboat Springs
An additional $15,000 Excellence in Education Innovation Award will be given to a self-nominated educator, which will be selected by a separate committee. That award is sponsored by Janus Henderson Investors. The award ceremony will take place October 3 at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Denver.
The Succeeds Prize ... serves as a year-long campaign to identify, implement, and scale successful innovations and best practices so every student in Colorado can benefit," their website states. 
For more information regarding the awards, the ceremony, or sponsorship, visit the Colorado Succeeds website. Congratulations to all the finalists! We commend you for your impact on our Colorado students!
Featured image of St. Vrain students at IBM's summer Innovation Academy (courtesy of Colorado Succeeds).

Forbes has four Colorado companies on its list of largest private companies in America.