As winners of this year's Schools of Distinction Awards, the six schools chosen by Intel Corp. for their exemplary math and science instruction have one characteristic in common: They all integrate real-world experiences into the curriculum.

The awards ceremony was held at a restaurant in the nation's capital Sept. 9. Members of national ed-tech organizations, such as the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), as well as members of the media and the awards' sponsors, ate beef tenderloin sandwiches and listened to the impressive accomplishments of the six winners.

"Intel Schools of Distinction are places where students, teachers, and the entire community live and breathe educational excellence," said Intel Chairman Craig Barrett. "Coupling that focus with 21st-century skills--communication, collaboration, and critical thinking--fosters the innovation we need far more of in the U.S."

Barrett has been a strong advocate for teaching 21st-century skills as part of the curriculum--and the day after he announced Intel's awards, a new report offered even more evidence to support such a practice (see "Report: Retool instruction, or U.S. will fail"). The Schools of Distinction Awards highlight innovative schools that have achieved success in doing just that.

The awards are given in two categories: math and science. Within each category, there is one elementary, on middle, and one high school winner.

Schools that received math recognition were Sojourner School in Milwaukee, Ore.; DeLay Middle School in Lewisville, Texas; and Sabino High School in Tucson, Ariz.

Schools that received science recognition were Laguna Elementary School in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Key Peninsula Middle School in Lakebay, Wash.; and Townsend Harris High School in Flushing, N.Y.

As the rain from an overcast day poured down around the glass walls of the restaurant, the faces of the winners couldn't have been brighter as they received their larger-than-life checks of $10,000 from the Intel Foundation and an award package that includes curriculum materials, professional development resources, hardware, and software valued at more than $160,000.

Award sponsors included Dell, DyKnow, eInstruction, Futurekids, Scantron, SMART Technologies, and Spectrum K12.

"We never interrupt the school day with announcements," said Jayne Germany, instructional technologist for DeLay Middle School, "but the moment we found out we won, we were on the intercom celebrating!"

DeLay students have improved their math performance by about 30 percent in the last three years.

One program, called "Gimme 5," has educators spend the first five days of school team-building with their students to help them learn school procedures and philosophy through relay races, poster-making, and other activities.