Celebrating Teachers Who Mak e The Grade (NAPSA)—America’s teachers are at the head of the class when it comes to helping children learn, grow and excel. and women nearing the end of their lives. Interacting across gen- erations and with the community is meant to give students a unique perspective on the possibilities and challenges thatlife can throw their way. But as the Internet, video games, instant messaging and other distractions compete with educators for children’s attention, many of today’s top teachers have had to get creative to help keep students interested. Unfortunately, budget constraints and a tough economy have led many of those teachers to dip into their own pockets to create captivating lesson plans. Now a unique program could help reward those efforts. Since 1996, it has recognized kindergarten through 12th-grade educators for their innovative teaching methods, creative educational projects and ability to positively influence the children they teach. Called the ING Unsung Heroes award, it’s given more than $3 million in grant money to support teachers across the U.S. Each year, 100 finalists are selected to receive a $2,000 grant, payable to both the winning teacher and his or her school. Of the 100 finalists, three are selected for additional financial awards: $25,000 for first place, $10,000 for secondplace, and $5,000 for third place. The top winners are selected by ING’s Educators Advisory Board, consisting of six distinguished educators from across the United States. Smart Success This year’s first-prize winners are Leslie Kaplan, Richard Kurtz and Catherine Nolan, a team of high school educators who partnered with community businesses and other groups to create the “Real Problems/Real Solutions: Service Engineering Program.” Manyof today’s top teachers A unique program helps reward the efforts of top teachers. have hadto get creative to help keep students interested. @ The initiative encourages stu- Elementary school teacher Jonathan Felix won in 2007 with his program, “Write On,” integrating writing, English, photography, technology and Web design into the teaching curriculum. Felix’s third-grade students use technology to research, write, edit and create a library of books that are then made available online as ebooks. They learn how to use a digital camera, download and edit photographs, create and print pages, and publish and upload their books on the Internet. How to Apply Applications for the 2010 awards are now available at www.ing.com/us/unsungheroes. dents to apply their engineering knowledge to solve real problems for people with disabilities. Youngsters who participate first speak with a disabled individualto learn about specific physical and mental challenges he or she might encounter. Next, they interview professional engineers and teachers for advice and then draft designs for adaptations to existing devices that have proven to be difficult for disabled people to use. By workingdirectly with those who aredifferently abled, the students have the opportunity to apply their classroom studies to the real world. Past years’ winners haveincluded a high school teacher as well as an elementary school teacher. Robert Ostmann, a high school teacher and 2008 winner, developed a program, “LifeWorks Studio,” which has helped keep students in school. The studentoperated small business contracts with parent groups at different schools to videotape plays, concerts and other events and to produce professional-quality DVDs for the schools to sell as fundraisers. The program’s students have also partnered with a regional hospice organization to film and produce “LifeStory” video memoirs of men April 30, 2010, is the deadline for applying, and the contest is open to kindergarten through 12thgrade educators employed by an accredited school (additionaleligibility requirements apply). The nonessay portion of the application can be completed using a fillable PDF. Applicants need only download the PDF and type information directly into thefile. The essay and budget sections of the application need to be completed in a separate Word documentor other word-processing program. All application materials should be submitted following the process outlined in the application. wee enn ee eee ee eeeOUeee een ne eee nee eee eee eee eee Note to Editors: Find teachers named “Unsung Heroes”by state at www.ing.com / us /unsungheroes.
