Shannon Marshall Mury of the Child Development Center for Learning and Research (CDCLR) won the 2021 Helene Marks National Child Care Teacher of the Year Award. The award is the top honor from the Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Foundation, which each year selects 50 teachers who show commitment and dedication to the field of early childhood education. The foundation makes ten awards to members of this cohort; Mury was among this group in April. All winners are invited to apply for the Helene Marks award, the only national award for early childhood educators. Mury was nominated by Karen Gallagher, Director of the CDCLR, for her innovative work with young children during the pandemic as well as her accomplishments as a graduate student in the School of Education: she recently completed her master’s degree in English as a Second Language, and her graduate coursework has proven especially valuable as she works with bilingual and trilingual children at the center. Although national recognition of the award was virtual, Mury’s CDCLR colleagues hung a banner in her honor on the fence of the center’s playground announcing her receipt of the award.