NELMS SCHOLAR LEADER AWARDS
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What
are the major reasons that schools participate?
A: Schools frequently report the following:
- positive
recognition for students
- positive
recognition for and supports parents of young adolescents
- promotes
scholarship and leadership for middle level students
- one of the
few positive events for the middle level for young adolescents
- one of the
few state wide events for middle level students
- recognizes
students beyond the school community
- brings recognition
to our school
- students,
parents, school officials and administration all sit together for a
great evening of fun and
recognition
- it reflects
well on all middle school students, not just the two that are recognized
- it supports
our school goals
- promotes
dignity and respect for all
- a way to
show pride in our students
- it helps
support the mission of the sponsor organizations
Q:
How are resources generated for this event?
A: It seems there are a variety of sources used
to generate the resources needed for this activity.
The following are some suggestions:
- fundraising
money from our school
- access
the student activity fund
- access
the principal's fund
- our parent
group pays for it
- we
have a local business sponsor the whole table
- our school
board sponsors our participation
- the teachers
association pays for the table
- all our
teachers chip in a few bucks so our school can attend
- civic group
in our community pays for our attendance
- money comes
from the school budget, we set it aside every year
- we ask
the parents to pay for their dinners but the school pays for the students
Q:
Is this dinner a form of a star system for middle level students?
A: In discussions, asking those who have participated, they feel that:
- the students
chosen are representatives of others
- the
students who do "good" things can be role models
- if you don't
recognize students who do these kinds of things, there will not be a
model for others to follow
- the criteria
is very broad, almost all our students are eligible
- this is
just one more way we recognize students
- it's another
avenue to recognize students
- any positive
recognition is a good thing and far out weighs any disadvantages
- it is a
way to recognize talent that might not be recognized otherwise in traditional
school recognition programs
- the criteria
is all inclusive, we find that kids chosen for this would probably not
be chosen for others
- we find
few recognition for leaders in our school
- we recognize
kids in a variety of ways so from their prospective it's but one more
way to acknowledge the good works of their colleagues
- having the
students be representative of others is really helpful
- we get
our students involved in the selection process
Q:
How do you select your students for this award?
A: School leaders report a variety of ways they select students. They
are:
- I, as the
principal, select the two students and invite the parents to attend
- the administrative
team sits down and selects the students
- team leader
council in my building solicits nominations from teachers and then selects
the two students
- The 8th
grade teams in our building nominate students and the guidance department
selects the two students
- the 8th
(or 7th) grade teachers nominate the student and the unified arts teachers
select the two students to be recognized
- our student
government nominates students and the team leader council and school
improvement committee selects the two to be representative
- each teacher
nominates one student, the two are then selected by administration but
we send letters to all the parents of the other students nominated telling
them of their recognition even though they were not selected as one
of the two
- My 8th
graders are usually in Washington DC at this time so we made this a
7th grade award
Q:
Is there any profit generated by this event?
A: All of the organizations that NELMS partners with have pledged to
make this event revenue neutral. However,
there are expenses associated with this event and the resources
generated are used to offset these expenses.
Q:
Will this be an on-going annual event?
A: In each of the states these events seem to be growing. It is expected
that each New England state will continue
to have Scholar Leader Dinners and as such we look forward to on-going continued
participation. The State of Connecticut, which originated this idea,
has students recognized
from 144 schools that brings together over 1400 individuals for a banquet. Certainly
in other states it can grow proportionally.
We hope that
this question and answer sheet has been helpful for you as you think about
your level of participation in the future. We appreciate support given
to these events and feel strongly that positive nature of recognizing
young people as representative of all student scholar leaders is a positive
and good thing for our community, our states, our schools, and particularly
for our students.
Robert C. Spear, Ed.D.
Executive Director, NELMS
For
further information please contact Melanie Smith at 978-887-6263 or
at msmith@nelms.org
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