Pando PR Tips No. 70
CTE award for students, a list of grants, awards in EdTech and communications, three of my favorite Substacks
Grants in Education
Tech & Learning's List of Grants for Education
T&L publishes lists of several grants of varied size and focus in K-12 and higher education. This is a good bookmark!
Student Award in CTE
John C. Foster Excellence Award — Apply by Apr 1
This is a $500 scholarship for outstanding CTE students. Now in its second year, the award honors Dr. Foster's legacy of empowering learners and advancing career and technical education.
EdTech Award Submissions Deadlines
The American "Stevie" Business Awards — Regular entry deadline is Feb 10
The Stevie Awards are the world's premier business awards and were created to honor and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and working professionals worldwide. Cost varies. Final deadline is March 4. We've entered our clients several times and are always impressed with the visibility they received as winners. If you'd like some pointers, reach out! We'd be happy to help.
32nd Annual Communicator Awards — Extended deadline Mar 20
This is not an education-specific awards program although there are categories for education. Enter your best projects and join impressive names like The Walt Disney Company, Tom Ford Beauty, McCANN, Dentsu, Pfizer, Wunderman Thompson, Squarespace and more.
The PIEoneer Awards 2026 — Entries close on March 20
These awards celebrate innovation, excellence, and leadership at every scale. Their distinguished judging panel, drawn from across the international education community, will be looking for bold ideas, outstanding impact, and fresh thinking that pushes boundaries and raises standards.
EdTech Breakthrough Awards — Final deadline is Mar 21
Breakthrough awards honor excellence EdTech companies, products, and people from around the world. Categories include remote learning, ongoing education & skills training, student engagement, school administration, and more. No entry fee.
EdTech Resources
EdTech Magazine - 25 Higher Ed Influencers to Follow
If you are looking for influencers in higher education, this list could be helpful. EdTech Magazine highlights 25 Higher Ed IT influencers.
7 Not to Miss UK Education Conference List
If the UK is on your target list and the only UK conference you know of is Bett, see this list for a good starting point in your research.
The State of AI in PR 2026
Based on a survey of more than 500 PR professionals, the State of AI in PR explores how AI adoption is evolving across the industry. Learn how teams are using AI today, how organizations are supporting it with training and policies, and how PR pros are measuring impact and integrating AI into their day-to-day workflows. Just be sure that when using AI for writing, confirm facts and sources, and give proper attribution to the author.
EdTech and PR Events
Tech & Learning's 2026 EdTech to Watch: Primary Education
T&L is known for their excellent events and special programs. This webinar series features several 15-minute live demonstrations of products in primary ed including Reading Eggs, Lincoln Learning and Vivacity.
Why they worked: A pitch breakdown with PR coach Michael Smart: Feb 19 - 1pm ET
PR coach Michael Smart will walk through 10 real-life media pitches that landed coverage and explain how to apply the same principles to your own pitches. We've been fans of Michael Smart for years so stop in and gain a jolt of energy and few new ideas.
What I'm Reading
I read The Cheat Sheet for good humor and the latest news on academic integrity. I read Joni Sweet's press substack because she is plugged in everywhere. I read Press Gazette for their detailed reporting on the news industry and right now, their series showing how misinformation and AI slop affect the news we receive.
I’m the founder and CEO of Pando Public Relations. If you liked this issue of PR Tips, subscribe here to our edition on LinkedIn. New issues publish on Thursdays alternating between articles with practical advice on the PR profession and PR in EdTech Tips.
If you made it this far, in my next issue, I'll share a fabulous tool we found that indexes newsletters. We're still testing it out and will report back in 2 weeks.