Students, parents, and co-workers are eligible to submit nominations for the 2007 Hopkins Awards. The awards were established by the E.L. and Z. Irene Hopkins Foundation to recognize the importance of the teaching profession and the positive impact educators have on the community, according to information from Nancy Horst, community relations director for the Emporia school district.
Nominations are due by noon, March 15.
The Foundation awarded a total of $29,500 in cash to 13 winners last year. A total of 53 teachers and support staff now have received the awards, with a total value of $148,500, in the past four years. Recipients may use the money in any way they choose.
Cash awards will be made to teachers at three levels: preschool through grade four, grades five through eight, and grades nine through 12. Three teachers in each category will receive $5,000, $2,500, or $1,000. A plaque containing educators’ names will be displayed on the Hopkins Wall of Honor at the Emporia Board of Education office.
To be eligible for Star Performer Awards, nominated teachers need to be innovative, put students ahead of themselves, be caring, inspirational, have a record of student achievement and go beyond the call of duty to make a difference for children.
Nominated teachers must be currently teaching in the Emporia Public Schools. Nominations should include a completed form and a statement of how the employee has made a difference for students. Star Performer nominations for teachers also must include supporting materials, such as letters, newspaper clippings or other documentation of the nominee’s work. No CDs or DVDs will be accepted.
WOW awards will be given to support staff who have made a difference for students, Horst said. Three employees will receive $1,000 each and are free to use the money as they choose.
Support staff includes employees whose jobs do not require a teaching certificate, such as secretaries, custodians, aides and paraeducators, clerks, bus drivers and cooks.
The selection panel will consider support staff members who consistently go “above and beyond the call of duty to make a difference for students,” Horst said.
Nomination forms are available at all Emporia public schools and the Board of Education office, 501 Merchant St., and on the district's website at www.usd253.org. For more information, call Kristy Turner at 341-2201 or e-mail kturner@usd253.org.
A selection committee will include representatives of the Hopkins Foundation, Emporia Board of Education, the community, retired teachers, and an educator with state or national work experience. The awards will be presented in May, according to Michelle Molinaro, secretary-manager of the foundation, who said the awards program was a dream of her grandfather, E. L. Hopkins.