Scholar Leader Award FAQ

The following information sheet, in question and answer format, has been compiled from responses to surveys of schools participating in Scholar Leader Dinners across New England. We hope that the issues and answers generated will give planners more information from which to make decisions about continuing to support this activity or to begin participating in this program.

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 do schools generate resources for this event?
A: In this time of tight budgets, there might be 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 or a few parents pay for the table
• five or six people share the expense of a table (Superintendent, curriculum leaders, building leaders, School Board Chairperson, Mayor, Selectmen to name but a few)
  
• we have a local business sponsor the whole table
• our school board sponsors our participation
  
• the teachers association and/or the administrator’s 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
  
• 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 other forms of recognition
  
• 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
  

Q: How do you select your students for this award?
A: School leaders report a variety of ways they select students. They are:

• team leader council solicits nominations from teachers and then selects the two students
• the appropriate team(s) nominate students and the guidance department selects the two students
• the 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 on a class trip at this time so we made this a 7th grade award
• we get our students involved in the selection process
• the principal selects the two students and invite the parents to attend
• the administrative team sits down and selects the students

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.

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.

Brenda Needham
Executive Director, NELMS

For further information please contact NELMS at (978) 557-9311 or e-mail