Teaching Awards patron Henry Winkler brings excitement to Wales
Teaching Awards patron Henry Winkler, aka ‘The Fonz’, was a guest presenter at our Welsh ceremony where he met three UK finalists for the new award created in his name.
Attending a celebration at Cardiff City Hall, Henry also congratulated 27 finalists for the Welsh Teaching Awards, including ten silver plato winners.
The Henry Winkler Teaching Award for Special Needs 2010 involves bursary prizes of at least £10,000 for three schools and the ceremony in Wales was a key moment in the TA calendar for those shortlisted to meet the man who’s made the prizes possible.
Henry, an actor and now a children’s author who is also dyslexic, is passionate about the power of teachers to transform lives and about helping all children fulfil their potential. He has described the Teaching Awards as his ‘favourite charity’ and last year won £40,000 from Absolute Radio in a competition.
As a result three bursaries have been created to support innovative work in schools. The outright winner of £15,000 will be announced at the UK ceremony on 31 October, broadcast on BBC2.
He said: ‘School was unbelievably hard for me. Teachers didn’t know what dyslexia was at that time. So I was labelled a troublemaker. Just because we learn differently, that does not mean that we are not incredibly smart human beings. That’s something I need every child to understand.’
Henry – who is based in Hollywood – also spoke about Mr Rock, a music teacher who believed in his potential and spurred him on.
The three finalists who Henry named and who will each receive at least £10,000 are: Pennywell Early Years Centre in Sunderland ; Holbrook Centre for Autism near Belper in Derbyshire and Ambergate Sports College in Grantham, Lincolnshire.
On leaving Cardiff Henry was due to begin a two-week tour of schools throughout Britain. He was accompanied by Nicky Cox, editor of the children’s newspaper First News and would be promoting My Way!, the paper’s special needs campaign.
Henry is now a successful children’s author with a series about a dyslexic boy called Hank Zipzer, published by Walker Books.
