A Wayne County educator known for his ion, leadership, and positivity has been honored with an Excellence in Education award from the Michigan Lottery.

The award winner, Dion Cowans, is a School Culture Facilitator and Athletic Coordinator at the Academy of the Americas. The school is part of the Detroit Public Schools Community District.

The Michigan Lottery established the Excellence in Education awards in 2014 to recognize outstanding public-school educators across the state during the school year.

Winners of the weekly award receive a $2,000 cash prize. At the end of the school year, one of the weekly award winners will be selected to receive the Lottery’s Educator of the Year award and will receive a $10,000 cash prize.

Each winner also is featured in a news segment on the Lottery’s media partner stations: WXYZ-TV in Detroit, FOX 17 in Grand Rapids, FOX 47 in Lansing, WNEM-TV in Saginaw, and WWTV-TV in Traverse City. The news segment featuring Cowans will air this evening.

“Mr. Cowans is a highly respected and ired leader in his school because of his dedication, ion, and dependability,” said Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli. “He is not only devoted to the sports programs at his school as the Athletic Coordinator, but he is also in the classrooms and hallways ing and building relationships with the students as the School Culture Facilitator. The work he does is inspiring and makes a difference in the lives of his students and his school community.”

Cowans says he found his ion when he began his career in education.

“I started off as a security officer at the school, and then I was hired as the School Culture Facilitator. I was already doing a lot of the work as a School Culture Facilitator, so it was an easy transition. I was always trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing with my life, and I found my ion once I started my position at the Academy of the Americas.”

Cowans was nominated for the award by a colleague.

“Our students’ lives have been irrevocably changed by Dion Cowans ion and persistence at our school. Dion’s success as our Athletic Coordinator is evident and exceptional. Through his advocacy and leadership, our school gym underwent an incredible transformation. This was not simply about giving an update to our building’s infrastructure, it was about Dion giving our students the assurance that they are just as deserving as any child of playing in a beautiful gym.

“Dion’s investment in our kids has paid off! Our boys’ baseball team is back-to-back (public school league) Gold Division Champions and have played at Comerica Park two years in a row. Our boys’ soccer team won the MHSL championship, prompting Dion to enact a victory walk through the hallway. Lastly, our girls’ volleyball team has experienced countless wins on their own turf, due to the gym Dion worked so hard to have. These victories are incredible on their own, but they are even more powerful when understood in the context of our school community.

“Dion is consistent, dependable, and responsive. He innately possesses what many educators spend years trying to hone. He is firm, yet loving, and intrinsically knows when to push a kid to succeed more, and when to ease up and give a child grace. Dion leads with joy and humor. When Dion is praised for his work, he defaults to praising everyone else, thanking others for their contributions to the team’s success. His unrelenting positivity is both refreshing and motivating in a school environment where we are oftentimes up against immense systemic inequalities. He is excellent, influential, and deeply deserving of this award.”

Cowans has been an educator for 14 years, all at the Academy of the Americas.

Excellence in Education award nominees are evaluated on the following criteria:

• Excellence – Their work consistently helps students and/or their schools or school districts advance to higher levels of academic achievement.
• Dedication – They consistently go above and beyond expectations to help students succeed.
• Inspiration – Their work inspires others around them to exceed expectations either academically or professionally.
• Leadership – They demonstrate clear leadership skills in their positions with their school or school districts.
• Effectiveness – The nominee’s work has clear and positive results on the educational advancement of students within the school or school district.