I don't have a concise reply - so I will ramble for a moment.
We all like to 'win' - we don't like to lose. Obvious point !
Personally I could write a book on failure. A really really big book. It is the cornerstone of my education and it defines a lot of how I think about success.
In TIMS our team motto is 'creativity unleashed' but within our team it is really 'don't screw up!!'. It is sort of an inside joke. We know we will and know we have to progress beyond the screw up.
I wouldn't say we celebrate failure but we strongly consider it part of the journey. It is part of the terrain.
Failure is part of the experience of testing a new boundaries. Personal, team, technological boundaries. Hopefully not failing on the same 'dumb' thing.
If you have ever seen the movie "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe you get to see a lot of boundary pushing and failure.
I personally think this is a cool film by Derek Cianfrance for Honda on the issue of failure :
here
Related to all this:
“The most common form of human stupidity is forgetting what we were trying to accomplish”. Friedrich Nietzsche
“The most important thing a leader can do in an organisation is remind people what they are there to accomplish”. Professor Herman “Dutch” Leonard (HBS)
If you know what you are trying to accomplish, and the mentor as leader can keep everyone focused on that, then you can assess success and failure. And an external confirmation of that success / failure from something like an award might play into that, or not !!
The really big stuff for me personally as a mentor is when I look around at our team members while Dean is talking during the closing ceremonies in Atlanta and I think about how the students have grown and matured from the experience. I think the students have the same experience and tend to put the 'awards' in perspective.
'Failure' isn't necessarily a judgement on a persons character or ethic. Approached correctly and embraced failure can be a great teacher.
I think there is a big problem in our schools and society in that we don't encourage "healthy failure".
Repeating Dutch's comments - it is important for the team adult and student leaders to remind us all and remind us frequently what it is we are trying to accomplish. It puts the 'awards' into a different perspective.
In a few days Dean will give another too long speech where he works to remind us all of this same thing and will endcap the process in a few months with another too long speech.
The team has to do the same but in a more appealing manner within themselves.
PS: Knowing what you are trying to accomplish as an individual and as a team is important. Also knowing that the answers to those questions can vary from person to person / team to team is also important.
ramble off....