The Susan B. Wilson
Civic Education Merit Award
2007-2008
As the process and drama of the 2008 presidential primary unfolds, the importance of Civics Education is put in the spotlight. An educated electorate is the cornerstone of our democracy and educating high school students, some of whom are about to vote for the first time, about the importance of their responsibility as citizens and voters is crucial.
To encourage teachers engaged in this endeavor and to honor exceptional work in this area, the League of Women Voters of South Kingstown and Narragansett (LWVSK/N) is inaugurating the Susan B. Wilson Civic Education Merit Award with funding from the League of Women Voters Rhode Island Education Fund.
The intention of this merit award is to honor two individual, high-school educators or team of educators whose teaching exhibits extraordinary ability, innovation and fulfills one or more of the following:
· Enriches students' understanding of their own civic rights and responsibilities
· Encourages students' civic participation
· Brings context and relevance to pivotal civic events—historic, current or both—affecting the United States on a national, regional, statewide, or local level
· Promotes understanding and appreciation of individuals who play a role in aforementioned pivotal civic events
WHO MAY APPLY
· Any individual educator or team of educators teaching in a Rhode Island secondary school is eligible to apply for this merit award on his/her/the groups own behalf.
· Any RI resident or RI group/organization may apply for this merit award on behalf of an educator or team of educators teaching in a Rhode Island secondary school upon consent of that person or teaching team.
DESCRIPTION OF MERIT AWARD PROCESS
Through an annual review of submitted applications, two individual Rhode Island teachers or team of teachers will be selected to receive a financial merit award. All winning applicants will receive a year membership in their local LWV, courtesy LWVSK/N. Award recipients will be ranked in the following manner:
First Place: Grand Prize, $800.00
Second Place: Jury Prize, $500.00
Members of The League of Women Voters of South Kingstown/Narragansett (LWVSK/N) will develop, distribute, administer and review the entire process of this merit award. As part of the process LWVSK/N are inviting three “guest judges” to be part of a 5-person judging panel. Two guest judges will not be required to be league members; the third will be a member of the LWVRI Board of Directors or its designee.
Because this is a merit award in recognition for what a teacher has accomplished thus far, the manner in which funds from this award are spent are left exclusively to the discretion of each individual recipient.
HOW TO APPLY
Format
The application consists of three parts:
1. Cover Page
2. Descriptive Narrative
3. Supporting supplemental material
The entire application should be printed single-side only, on standard letter-size paper (8-1/2” x 11”); unbound and submitted in a form that is easy to photocopy.
Cover Page
The cover page should include the following information:
· Name of individual or group submitting the application
· Name of merit award nominee(s) and job title(s)
· Name, address, and phone number of nominee(s)'s school
· Name of the individual to be the primary contact (designated contact) along with email address and phone number
Narrative Content
To allow the greatest flexibility in presenting important details, applicants must submit a descriptive narrative of the educator's work relevant to the aforementioned intention of this merit award. This work will be referred to as “the program.” Narrative must be no more than 5 pages (but may be fewer) in length.
Some useful information to include in the narrative is listed below. It is not necessary or expected to address every bullet point specifically. The purpose of this list is to help with the composition of the narrative so its details will illustrate the relevance, distinctiveness and effectiveness of “the program.”
· the goal or purpose of “the program”
· description of the educator(s)'s career development and interest in civic education
· demographic description and number of students enrolled in “the program”
· length of “the program's” implementation and description of how it has evolved and improved
· description of how “the program's” effectiveness is monitored within a school year and/or from year-to-year
· statistical/anecdotal information illustrating highlights of the program and/or distinctive nature of “the program”
· public recognition of the value of “the program” within the school's own population and/or within its local community, the state, the nation
· explain why “the program” is worth replicating in other schools and describe how viable such replication would be
Supportive Supplemental Material
Providing additional information is highly encouraged, but only if those materials are relevant to civic education work of “the program.” These attachments are separate and apart from the main narrative, but collected in another section of the submitted application.
Here are some ideas for Supportive Supplemental Material:
· letters of recognition/support from students, parents, colleagues, administrators, others
· copies of publications about “the program”
· copies of students' work in “the program”
· copies of photos (with photo captions/content identification)
· copies of certificates, or other awards or recognitions
· copies/replicas of teaching materials
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS
All applications must be mailed to the address noted below and postmarked by April 28, 2008. Upon receipt of an application, the designated contact will receive an email or phone notification. Applications will not be returned.
Apply to:
The Susan B. Wilson Civic Education Merit Award
c/o LWVSK/N
P.O. Box 5395
Wakefield, RI 02880
QUESTIONS ABOUT WILSON MERIT AWARD
To contact The League of Women Voters of South Kingstown/Narragansett about anything related to this award, email sknarr@lwvri.org and include a phone number.
1. Family members of LWVRI Education Fund Board of Directors, LWVRI Board of Directors or LWVSK/N dues-paying members will not be allowed to apply for this award.
2. Awarding of prizes will be at the discretion of the panel of judges, including that no prizes may be awarded.
Susan B. Wilson, a founding member of the South Kingstown/ Narragansett League of Women Voters, was a passionate proponent for education and civic engagement. In 1964 she helped organize the local chapter of the League and, when the state switched from paper ballots to mechanical voting machines, she made sure voters knew how to use the new technology. She held workshops for adults in the local schools and was tireless in her work and commitment to voter service and education. In 1983, Camilla Wiener, then President of the South Kingstown/Narragansett LWV, nominated Susan to receive a League of Women Voters Rhode Island award for her outstanding volunteer service. Her commitment to the League even continued after her death with a bequest to the League of Women Voters Education Fund targeted at promoting voter service and education.