| Virginia AssociationforEnvironmental Education |
Page K. Hutchinson Outstanding Environmental Educator of the Year Award
Named after past VAEE Board Member and former Virginia Project Learning Tree State Coordinator Page Hutchison, this award recognizes the exceptional contributions made by an individual to their community in environmental education.
This award recipient will demonstrate outstanding leadership, innovation, lasting impact, and commitment to quality EE. This recipient is acknowledged as a role model for environmental responsibility and serves as an inspiration for their audiences and peers. This person may be a non-formal or formal educator. This award is open to environmental educators who serve early childhood, K-12, higher education, community, or adult audiences.
Please Note: Only peer nominations will be accepted for this award category.
The winner of this award will receive individual membership to VAEE for 2021-2022, 2022 Conference Registration, and a $500 award to support the recipient's Professional Development goals.
NOMINATION CRITERIA
Outstanding Leadership: Nominee serves as a model for demonstrating outstanding action, contribution and leadership in environmental education and/or literacy.
Innovative Approach: Nominee approach is innovative, unique, creative, inclusive, relevant and action oriented. Nominee shares ideas, techniques and collaborates with colleagues, students, partners, the public, and/or the greater EE community. The nominee will inspire others to adopt their innovative approaches.
Impact: The nominee’s contributions and impact on its audience/community are noteworthy and nominee can demonstrate evidence of impact. Nominee’s work could be replicated by others. Nominee shows dedication (in current and long-term service) to providing EE opportunities that enhance understanding of the environment (e.g., developed and/or implemented curriculum, programs, innovations, publications, training, other opportunities).
Commitment to Environmental Education: The nominee is future-minded and committed to continuing and expanding their work to advance environmental education and/or literacy.
NOMINATION MATERIALS
VAEE members are invited to submit nominations for this award via the online form found here by Monday, January 31st, 2022. After the nominations cycle has been completed VAEE members will be invited to vote for the awardee via a WildApricot Poll prior to the 2022 VAEE Annual Conference (any nominees who are current VAEE board members will be asked to abstain from voting).
You will be asked to provide the following information about the nominee:
- Nominee’s Name & Contact Information
- Answer the Following Questions:
In what way(s) has this person represented the very best in teaching within the field of environmental education?
In what ways has the nominee demonstrated innovation in incorporating EE into lesson plans?
In what ways has this nominee demonstrated leadership in mentoring colleagues to use the environment as a context for learning?
In what ways has the nominee demonstrated an ability to link formal and nonformal education to advance environmental education?
How were the nominee’s primary audiences positively impacted by their lessons?
To what extent will this person’s teaching be recognized and valued by their peers?