Newswise — The National Center for Family Literacy announced today that it is accepting applications for the 2013 Toyota Teacher of the Year. It also unveiled a mini-grant program for 2013 to further stimulate important work with family learning and family engagement in education.
Today’s announcements coincide with National Family Literacy Month®, which is held every November. NCFL leads efforts with education advocates around the nation to organize and conduct literacy events throughout November to promote family literacy and learning.
The Toyota Teacher of the Year will award $20,000 to the winning teacher’s program and provide a free trip to the 2013 National Conference on Family Literacy, which will be held from April 28 – 30 in Louisville, Ky. This will mark the 17th year for the annual award.
Here’s how it worksThe application, which should be completed online at www.famlit.org/toyota-teacher-of-the-year-award/, is due Feb. 1. The winner will be chosen by a panel of NCFL family literacy specialists, who will identify high-performing teachers using the following criteria:• Serve families in a family literacy program, Title I school, preschool, library or community organization based in the United States. • Serve parents and children with a strong intergenerational approach to helping them learn together and/or use innovative ways to engage parents in their children’s education;• Exhibit a record of success;• Have novel ideas for expanding their program to benefit families and/or reach to engage more families; and • Serve communities and families with high literacy and socioeconomic needs. One runner-up will receive a $2,500 grant for his/her program and a scholarship to the conference. Programs and schools may nominate up to two educators but must submit a separate online nomination form for each. For more information and guidelines, visit: www.famlit.org/toyota-teacher-of-the-year-award/.
Litera-Seeds mini-grant
NCFL recognizes the important work happening across the nation with families through all types of programs and organizations. Litera-Seeds is a special, one-year opportunity from NCFL and Toyota that will award 10 to 20 mini-grants of $500 each for educator-led programs and events that emphasize intergenerational participation and learning. This award is geared toward kindergarten through 12th grade teachers, family literacy professionals, librarians, homeschool consortiums and other family literacy and community-based organizations.
Applications will be taken online until Dec. 20, and the Litera-Seeds winners will be announced Jan. 29. Please visit www.famlit.org/litera-seeds for additional details and to apply.
ABOUT NCFLThe National Center for Family Literacy is the worldwide leader in family literacy. More than 1 million families have made positive educational and economic gains as a result of NCFL’s work, which includes training more than 150,000 teachers and thousands of volunteers. For more information, contact 1-877-FAMLIT-1 or visit www.famlit.org.
ABOUT NCFL’S PARTNERSHIP WITH TOYOTASince 1991, Toyota and NCFL have forged successful programs to promote family literacy in the United States. Today, the Toyota/NCFL partnership accounts for 256 family literacy sites in 50 cities and 30 states. As part of this partnership, the Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year award has been presented annually since 1997 and recognizes individual teachers’ contributions to improving literacy among youth and adults. Additional information on Toyota’s commitment to improving education nationwide is available at www.toyota.com/about/our_commitment/philanthropy/education.
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