by Denise Mussman, Awards Chair
This year has been an exciting one when it comes to MIDTESOL awards. As our conference attendance and membership has grown, we have added new awards and expanded others. Here’s an update on the conference-related awards for 2016.
Essay Awards
Last spring, we had our annual essay contest for K-12 ESL students. All three questions were related to this year’s conference theme of “Innovation and Improvisation.” The winners of the Best K-12 Essay Contest were:
- 1st Place: Jackson Wong – $100 award
- 2nd Place: Doriane Hesseng Ndoutoume – $50 award
- 3rd Place: Mawra Fazal – $25 award
They all attend Ames High School in Ames, Iowa, and their sponsoring instructor was Kendall Schuldt.
This past year, we expanded the essay contest to adult students of ESL. Manou Maeva Boko from the University of Missouri’s Center for English Language Learning won first place ($100) for her wonderful essay. Her sponsoring teacher was Mary Browning.
You can see their photos and read the first place essays in the summer’s MIDTESOL Matters newsletter.
Interest Section Travel Awards
This year we created a new award in recognition of our many dedicated teachers and staff in ESL who receive little or no financial assistance for professional development. It is the Interest Section Travel Award, and one person from each of our interest sections is selected to win $125 to help offset conference expenses. The 2016 winners for the Interest Section Awards were:
- Shyam Pandey – Higher Education/Teacher Training Interest Section
- Paula Rolim – IEP Interest Section
- Buu Linh Quach – Educational Technology Interest Section
- Joanna Schindel – K-12 Interest Section
Proposal Awards
The #MIDTESOL16 Conference had a record high number of proposals submitted this year. Our thanks to Vicki Anderson, #MIDTESOL16 Program Chair and the Program Committee for their hard and difficult work in evaluating so many proposals!
MIDTESOL awards a generous $200 to one student whose proposal is outstanding. This year, the Best Student Proposal Award goes to Alejandra Alana, University of Kansas, for her presentation, “Traveling into Space: Creating Third Spaces in ESL.” Congratulations, Alejandra!
Last but not least, we had quite a few presenters apply for the Presenter Travel Awards, formerly called “Travel Awards.” The winners were:
- 1st Place: Jennifer Selvidge and Tracy Hirata-Edds, co-presenters, University of Kansas. Title of Presentation: “University Blue Books: Modified Portfolios to Enhance Student Learning”
- 2nd Place: Alathea Barks, The Language Company. Title of Presentation: “Comic Books as a Teaching Tool”
- 3rd Place: Ivana Lucic, Iowa State University. Title of Presentation: “ePortfolio Affordances: Innovative Technological Opportunities in the ESL Classroom”
Distinguished Service Award
Be sure to join us at the annual MIDTESOL Business Meeting on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 8:00 AM when we will announce this year’s Distinguished Service Award winner and honor the other award winners.
Thank you to the MIDTESOL Board for their help and support in expanding our awards. I am especially grateful to my committee members, Rosa Brefeld and Lindsey Simanowitz. Without their help, it would be difficult to select winners from so many well-written proposals.
