Nominations Invited for 1st Annual Norma Jean Anderson Award

Members of the Amherst elementary and regional school community are invited to nominate a teacher, administrator or staff member of the schools for the new Dr. Norma Jean Anderson Award.  The award will recognize a school employee who “promotes the ideals of a just and respectful community built on compassionate relationships.”  The award is presented as “part of the on-going work to remove systemic privilege based on race and class in our schools”.  It is presented by RaDAR (Race and Discipline Action Rights), a local group that is committed to promoting social justice and excellence in the schools.

This is the first year of what will be an annual award.  It will be presented at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast in Amherst, January 15, 2011.

The late Dr. Norma Jean Anderson was a dean at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a leader in addressing issues of educational diversity, opportunity and access.  She was instrumental in mentoring over 300 graduates from the School of Education.  She was a long-time community advocate for justice and equity.  She was a co-founder of the NAACP chapter in Amherst and of Hope Church in Amherst.

Nominations should be sent to RaDAR in care of Reynolds Winslow at: reynbaker@yahoo.com.   They must be received by Noon, December 28th.

Those interested in making a nomination can obtain more information from Reynolds Winslow, Jackie Wolf (lwvahealthcare@yahoo.com), Russ Vernon-Jones (russvj@gmail.com), or at http://www.arhsparentcenter.org/norma-jean-anderson-award
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Press contact persons for more information related to this press release:
Russ Vernon-Jones   -  413-687-4080
Jackie Wolf   -  413-549-2958
Reynolds  Winslow  -  413-549-2770