Nominate a Teacher - Above and Beyond

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Nominate an Outstanding Public High School Teacher

How does it work?

We ask former public high school students to nominate outstanding teachers who changed their lives, and who made an impact on their futures. We talk to each student about their former teacher, then talk to the principal, teacher colleagues, school counselors, and multiple additional former students. After this careful process, we then contact the teacher and arrange to meet at their school and observe their classroom teaching. We narrow it down to ten of the best candidates for consideration by our Board of Directors, with a focus on those who teach in the most challenging public school communities. Five are selected to join our family of Honorees and receive $10,000 each..

The awards are presented at a banquet in November, inviting the winners, their families, and our entire cadre of past Honorees to attend. We also invite the former student who made the nomination. The identity of this student is kept secret from each nominee, who only finds out at the banquet, when the student makes the speech presenting the award, telling how the teacher changed their life. It is one of the most inspirational and moving events in education.

If you have had a life-changing experience with a California high school teacher, we would like to hear your story. Above & Beyond is looking for individuals who attribute a positive direction in their lives to an extraordinary high school teacher.

We would like to hear how this teacher changed your pathway.

Name *

First

Last

Email *

Address *

Address 2

Single Line Text *

Phone Number *

What school did you attend when taught by this teacher? *

School District *

Name of teacher you are nominating: *

First

Last

In what years did you have this teacher? *

What subject did he or she teach? *

What year did you graduate from high school? *

As far as you know, is your nominee still at your old school? *

Yes
No
I'm not sure

As far as you know, is your nominee still teaching? *

Yes
No
I'm not sure

How did you come to find out about the Carlston Outstanding Teachers of America Award? *

Single Line Text

If you are not currently in school full-time, what is your occupation? *

If you attended graduate school after college, where did you attend and what degree or degrees have you earned?

What is or was your undergraduate major?

Please tell us about any obstacles you might have had to overcome, or special circumstances in your personal life that made your academic success surprising or unusual. *

Please share a bit about your family history. Include education level of your parents and any aspects of your family history that influenced or affected your personal and academic life. *

Please describe what made your experience with this teacher so special and life-changing. Tell us about who you were before you met this teacher, who you became, and how this teacher made such a difference to you. *

Do you remember any specific examples of your former teacher's lessons that made his/her classes more interesting, more motivating, and/or more challenging than those of your other teachers? *

Please tell about any characteristics of this teacher that made him/her more effective than other teachers you have experienced. *

How did your academic and personal experiences with your former teacher prepare you for your college academic experience? Did you feel better prepared than others in your college courses or less prepared? Why? *

Please make any additional comments regarding your former teacher that you feel might be pertinent to the Award and that might not have been covered in the above questions.

Please describe details of your academic life since high school. List any organizations/extracurricular activities and accomplishments during and after college.

If you are no longer in school or spent some time doing other things, please tell us about them too.

Any additional information