ALAN v36n2 - Grants and Awards

Volume 36, Number 2
Winter 2009




Grants and Awards

James Moffett Award

NCTE’s Conference on English Education, in conjunction with the National Writing Project, offers this grant to support teacher research projects inspired by the scholarship of James Moffett. All K–12 classroom educators who teach at least three hours or three classes per day are eligible to apply for the grant. Moffett Award winners receive a certificate and a monetary award (up to $1,000) to be used toward implementation of the proposed project. Proposals will be judged on such criteria as the strength of the connection to James Moffett’s scholarship and the perceived value and feasibility of the research. The deadline for nominations for the 2009 Moffett Award is May 1, 2009. Winners will be notified in July 2009 and announced at the 2009 NCTE Annual Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Submit nominations to CEE James Moffett Award, NCTE, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096. For more information, go to http://www.ncte.org/cee/awards/moffett .

2009 NCTE Excellence in Poetry Award

Lee Bennett Hopkins is the 15th winner of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. A distinguished poet, writer, and anthologist, Lee has created numerous books for children and adults throughout his career

NCTE recognizes and fosters excellence in children’s poetry by encouraging its publication and by exploring ways to acquaint teachers and children with poetry through such means as publications, programs, and displays. As one means of accomplishing this goal, NCTE established its Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children in 1977 to honor a living American poet for his or her aggregate work for children ages 3–13.

Lee Bennett Hopkins will be honored at the Books for Children Luncheon and at a Poetry Session during the NCTE Annual Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in November.

Gallo Grants

The Gallo Grants were established in 2003 by former ALAN Award and Hipple Award recipient Don Gallo to encourage educators in their early years of teaching to attend the ALAN Workshop for the first time. The grants provide funding—up to $500 each—for two classroom teachers in middle school or high school each year to attend the ALAN Workshop. (The amount of a grant may be less than $500 if the applicant lives within commuting distance of the convention location where airfare and housing would not be necessary.)

The Workshop is held at the annual convention of the National Council of Teachers of English on the Monday and Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving Day. Applicants must be teaching full-time; must have been classroom teachers for less than five years prior to the year in which they are applying; and must not have attended an ALAN Workshop previously. Membership in ALAN is not required for consideration, though applicants are expected to become ALAN members if they receive this grant.

Each applicant must fill out the attached grant application form and submit an essay of no more than 750 words explaining their interest in Young Adult Literature, what they hope to gain by attending this year’s ALAN Workshop, and how they hope to use the experience in their classrooms in the future. A letter of support must also come from the applicant’s school system. The deadline for submission is September 1. Applicants will be judged on their ability to articulate their understanding of the value of Young Adult Literature as well as their explanation of how they intend to use YA books and the information they gather at the Workshop in their own classrooms.

For further information about this grant, contact ALAN Executive Secretary Gary Salvner at gsalvner@ysu.edu or 330-941-3414. Information about the ALAN Workshop may be obtained from the ALAN Website— www.alan-ya.org . Information about the NCTE Convention may be obtained on the NCTE Website— www.ncte.org —or by writing to NCTE Headquarters at 1111 West Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801.

ALAN Foundation Research Grants

Members of ALAN may apply to the ALAN Foundation for funding (up to $1.500) for research in young adult literature. Proposals are reviewed by the five most recent presidents of ALAN. Awards are made annually in the fall and announced at the ALAN breakfast during the NCTE convention in November. The application deadline each year is September 15th.

The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes

The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heores seeks nominations for its 2009 awards. The Barron Prize honors young people ages 8 to 18 who have shown leadership and courage in public service to people and our planet. Each year, ten national winners each receive $2,000 to support their service work or higher education. Nomination deadline is April 30. More information is available at http://www.barronprize.org/index.html .