Lewis Bernstein accepted the Luminary Award on behalf of Sesame Workshop (formerly Children’s Television Workshop) during Thursday evening’s Simmons Luminary Award ceremony at the Umphrey Lee Center. Bernstein serves as the Sesame Workshop’s executive vice president of education and research. (Sidney Hollingsworth/The Daily Campus)

Organizations pioneering new means of improving children’s education were honored at the 2012 Simmons Luminary Awards by the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.

Joan Ganz Cooney and Sesame Workshop, AVANCE and Salesmanship Club Youth and Family Centers have created evidence-based research and innovative programs, which served as longtime models for improving education, encouraging hope in communities and strengthening at-risk communities.

The Simmons School established the Luminary Award in 2009 to recognize individuals and organizations that have invested large amounts of time and resources into education as a tool of empowerment.

These organizations have received national attention for their creative and passionate thinking that has transformed the lives of children and their families through education.

Salesmanship Club Youth and Family Centers is a non-profit that is heavily involved in education and stress-relief services for DISD students.

The Club is determined to give children, who are statistically unlikely to have fair educations, success and to maximize their potential.

The organization provides residential and community programs for education and therapeutic services to families as a whole, also paying attention to children’s social and emotional development.

The J. Erik Jonsson Community School, a research-based laboratory, opened in 1997 to help at-risk children in underrepresented Oak Cliff.

The mission is to help the family as a whole and evolved form a therapeutic standpoint. Change and developmental progression, respect, collaboration and hope are some of the morals of the program.

Sandy Nobles, a graduate of SMU, accepted the award for Salesmanship Club as the director of education for over five years, which she has created a culture of innovation and reliability.

Nobles is also principal of Jonsson Community School principal. Nobles lead the school’s education research and assessment of student achievement throughout high school. The clubs mission is to transform the lives of children of its service.

AVANCE is a school year long program that aids parents in becoming actively involved with their children’s development.

The program reaches out to support at-risk Hispanic families. It has become a model for outreach programs across the nation.

Olga Llamas Rodriguez, vice chair of the AVANCE National Board of Directors, accepted the Luminary Award. Rodriguez, active in the Houston community, is the vice president of public affairs for Port of Houston Authority, past president of the board of directors for Houston’s Local Infant Formula for Emergencies program and former mentor for Amigas Latinas for College. Rodriguez said their program works because it educates both a and child.

Joan Ganz Cooney and Sesame Workshop created the children’s public television program “Sesame Street” as a show to help children prepare for school. The program has impacted the United States and around the globe in English and Spanish through the use of research in order to enhance its impact socially and academically. “Sesame Street is a commitment to bring children to their highest potential,” Joan Ganz Cooney said.

The Children’s Television Workshop began as an experiment teaching numbers and letters, using children as its toughest researchers. It was proven to be effective before airing. Today the program teaches children throughout the world.

Lewis Bernstein accepted the award on behalf of Sesame Workshop. Bernstein is the Sesame Workshop executive vice president of education and research..

President and CEO of KERA Mary Anne Alhadeff introduced Dr. Lewis Bernstein with pride for the legacy the show has created for children to spend critical developmental years. Sesame street is now in 150 countries, its newest being Afghanistan.