The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) is seeking local nominees for the Maryland Parent Involvement Matters Award (PIMA) program for 2016. The annual award program recognizes those whose contributions to public education have led to improvements for children, teachers, schools and programs. MSDE also provides the program to encourage parental involvement in education. 

In order to be eligible for the award, nominees must be the parent or guardian of a child in a Maryland public school and a consistent advocate of public education. Nominees must have demonstrated involvement in at least one of the five following areas within the last two years:

  • Communicating – Fostering communication that impacts the school community;
  • Volunteering – Recruiting or organizing volunteers or supporting school activities, both internal and external;
  • Learning – Organizing or coordinating learning activities that reinforce homework or classroom skills;
  • Collaborating with Community – Coordinating resources and services for the school community, which could include fundraisers that would enhance a school’s services or environment, or coordinating resources or services from the school community that may serve an external community; and
  • Decision Making – Participating on decision making committees or in programs that advocate system or policy changes, or serving as a representative for the school or education community.

Nomination materials must include a two-page written narrative or explanation of a project that describes the nominee’s contributions as it relates to one or more of the five involvement areas; three letters of recommendation; and completed nomination forms. Judges will choose 24 semifinalists – one person to represent each Maryland county and Baltimore City. A second group of judges will select five finalists for the statewide award. All finalists will be interviewed by a third group of judges, who will recommend one state winner.

The state winner, as well as the names of the five finalists, will be announced at an awards celebration to be held spring 2016. All semifinalists will be recognized at the awards celebration.

As part of the program, semifinalists, finalists and the state award recipient are provided with opportunities to promote parental involvement that include speaking at educational events and conferences; appearing at Maryland State Board of Education and/or local Board of Education meetings; participating on educational task forces and/or committees; and participating in a best practices publication and website.

Nominations are due to MSDE by Friday, Jan. 29. Nomination materials, including the required forms, are posted on MSDE’s website at http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/pima/. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered and submissions are not accepted online or by email.

Visit http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/pima/ to learn more about the program and previous award recipients.

For more information or questions about the nomination process or award program, call 1-888-246-0016 or email barbara.scherr@maryland.gov or young-chan.han@maryland.gov.