Alumni & Friends

2010 Marcellus Waddill Excellence in Teaching Award

Nomination Deadline: October 9, 2009

The Marcellus Waddill Excellence in Teaching Award is given annually to two Wake Forest alumni who are exemplary classroom teachers in public or private K-12 schools. Established in 1994, the award is named in honor of Professor Emeritus of Mathematics Marcellus Waddill and funded by his son David. Each winner, one on the primary level (K - 5) and one on the secondary level (6 - 12), receives a $20,000 cash award, one of the largest monetary awards of any teacher-recognition honor in the country.

Objectives

• Recognize the importance of classroom teachers
• Reward Wake Forest alumni who are exemplary teachers
• Provide financial incentives to encourage outstanding teachers to remain in the classroom
• Encourage outstanding high school and college students to consider a career in teaching

Eligibility
Any Wake Forest alumnus with an undergraduate or graduate level degree who is currently a full-time classroom teacher in grades K - 12 (in public or private schools) and who has at least three years’ teaching experience is eligible. Nominees must have completed their third year of teaching and plan to teach for at least the next two years. School administrators, librarians, guidance counselors and one-on-one teachers are not eligible. Nominees do not have to be education majors. There is no limit to the number of times someone may be nominated. Nominees are obligated to withdraw if they leave the teaching profession at any time during the process.

Judging Process
The Waddill Award is sponsored by the Office of Alumni Services and the Department of Education. Members of the committee include faculty from the Education Department and the previous year's award recipients. Since the judges cannot observe or meet with each nominee personally, judges review written materials submitted by nominees in the first phase of the process in order to select finalists.  In the second phase, the finalists provide the judging committee with a videotape of a classroom session and an interview on teaching.   The videotaped materials, in conjunction with previous submissions from candidates, enable the judges to select the two winners.

The written materials required in the first stage of the competition include recommendation letters, examples of classroom materials and a written statement of their personal philosophy of education. (Please do not send these materials with the nomination letter; more detailed instructions will follow once the nomination is confirmed.) Three to five finalists on each level (K-5 and 6-12) will be selected in middle to late February 2009. The finalists must submit a videotaped classroom session and a videotaped interview, in which they respond spontaneously to questions from the committee.

Recognition
Two awards are given each year, one on the primary level (K-5) and one on the secondary level (6-12). Winners are notified in early May 2009 and the awards are presented during the University's Opening Convocation the following fall. Each winner is eligible to receive a $20,000 cash award; half when the award is presented and half the following fall. (Recipients must be teaching when initial payment is made and continue to teach for the entire subsequent academic year.)

Winners' Responsibilities
Recipients agree to cooperate with publicity for the award, to attend the awards presentation and to participate in the judging for the following year's competition. Travel and other expenses associated with coming to Wake Forest University for the awards presentation and the judging session are the responsibility of the winners. All applicable income taxes resulting from the award are the responsibility of the winners.

Nominating Procedure
The nomination period is now closed for 2009.