Between now and Oct. 31, your district can apply for the 2010 Magna Awards, American School Board Journal’s annual program that honors best practices in school districts. Co-sponsored by the National School Boards Association and Sodexo School Services, the Magna Awards recognize programs that showcase district leadership, creativity, innovation, and commitment to student achievement.
An independent panel of judges looks for programs that are developed or actively supported by the school board and the result of appropriate board leadership and collaboration. Winning programs must be successful in view of their primary objectives and promote the advancement of student learning. Special consideration is given to programs that can be replicated in districts with similar conditions and resources.
Nominations are judged in one of three categories—under 5,000 enrollment; 5,000-20,000 students; and over 20,000 students. One grand prize winner is selected in each category and receives a $3,500 award from Sodexo. Five additional winners and five honorable mention recipients also are selected from each enrollment category.
Magna Winning programs and programs receiving Honorable Mention, plus additional programs receiving scores from the Magna judges high enough to qualify them as Notable Programs, will be added every year to the searchable Magna Awards Best Practices Database, a resource for innovative school district best practices, proven and practical solutions for big and small district problems, and new ideas. Selected programs will be available in the database for at least five years.
Again, the deadline for nominations is Oct. 31. The deadline will not be extended. Only nominations submitted at http://www.asbj.com/MagnaNominations will be accepted. Nominations submitted in any other way are considered disqualified and not presented to the judges. Eligible districts (except in Nevada) must also be members in good standing of their state school boards association.
