Deadline to nominate: February 5, 2027

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The Doris Barnes Retired Educator Lifetime Achievement Award honors a retired educator who has continued to make a meaningful difference in the lives of young people and in the betterment of public education following retirement.
 

The award was established in memory of Doris Barnes, a founding member of the EDies Board, whose lifelong commitment to education and young people continued long after her formal teaching career ended. Doris passed away on April 13, 2013.
 

Born on a farm in Houlton, Maine, Doris came to New Hampshire at age 18 to begin her teaching career in Barnstead. Seven years later, she became a teaching principal at Alton Elementary School. Her career then took her to educational opportunities in Portland, Maine, and Rochester before she returned to New Hampshire as a guidance counselor at Spaulding High School and later at Laconia Middle School. She retired at age 80.

Retirement, however, did not end Doris's commitment to students. As a resident of Laconia, she continued tutoring young people for another 18 years. Her example embodies the spirit of this award: a lifelong educator whose dedication to students and education continues well beyond retirement.
 

Nominees for this award must:

• Be retired from a career in education after at least 20 years as a full-time educator.

• Have spent the majority of their teaching career in New Hampshire.

• Demonstrate a continued commitment to working with youth, supporting public education, or addressing other important issues affecting education since retirement.

• Be able to describe how their work and involvement since retirement have continued the tradition of service exemplified by Doris Barnes.

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