EngageAsia is administering the Elgin Heinz Outstanding Teaching award to one exceptional teacher in the humanities category (the 2020 award will focus on Japanese language). The Award recognizes exceptional teachers who further mutual understanding between American and Japanese people. The award consists of a $2,500 monetary award and a $5,000 grant provided by the United States-Japan Foundation. It is named in honor of Elgin Heinz for his commitment to educating students about Asia as well as for the inspiration he has provided to the field of pre-college education.
To learn more about the award and application procedures, please link here:
https://www.engageasia.org/programs/
Eligibility Requirements
The award is open to current full-time K-12 classroom teachers of any relevant subject in the United States. There are two award categories, one in the humanities and one in Japanese language. The 2019 award will only be open to candidates in the humanities category.
Previous award recipients often have over 10 years of teaching experience and have been engaged in teaching their students about Japan for a substantial period of time. Candidates must demonstrate sustained commitment to improving mutual understanding between Americans and Japanese, and must have made a significant contribution to enhancing students’ knowledge of Japan.
Applicants for the Japanese language category must have excellent command of the Japanese language and may be contacted by members of the selection committee to verify this.
Nomination Procedures
Applicants for the Elgin Heinz Outstanding Teacher Award need not be nominated to apply. However, the Foundation is always seeking to encourage the nation’s top educators to consider applying for the award. Therefore, we welcome nominations of individuals qualified to apply for the Award.
Letters of Nomination should briefly highlight the qualifications of the candidate and must include his/her name, contact information, and indicate the school at which the candidate currently teaches.
EngageAsia, which is administering the award, will accept Letters of Nomination at any time and will inform candidates that they have been nominated for the Award. Those nominated must submit a full application as indicated below.
Nominators should keep in mind the deadline for applications is in early May. Therefore, it is recommended that nominations be submitted by early March in order to provide potential candidates the time needed to compile their applications.
Deadline: May 15, 2019
Letters of Nomination should be e-mailed to EngageAsia at: info@engageasia.org
