Thinking about applying? Here is what you need to know:

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The education of every child should include civics education. An educated electorate is the cornerstone of our democracy and educating students, some of whom are about to vote for the first time, about the importance of their responsibility as citizens and voters is crucial.

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To encourage teachers engaged in this endeavor and to honor exceptional work in this area, the League of Women Voters South County (LWVSC) is sponsoring the Susan B. Wilson Civic Education Merit Awards with funding from the League of Women Voters Rhode Island Education Fund.

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CRITERIA

The intention of these awards is to honor an individual Rhode Island educator or a team of educators who are directly teaching students and whose teaching exhibits extraordinary ability and innovation, and fulfills one or more of the following criteria:

• Enriches students' understanding of their own civic rights and responsibilities;

• Encourages students' civic participation;

• Brings context and relevance to pivotal civic events--historic and/or current--affecting the United States on a national, regional, statewide, or local level;

• Promotes understanding and appreciation of individuals who play a role in aforementioned pivotal civic events.

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WHO MAY APPLY

• Any individual educator or team of educators teaching in a Rhode Island school (K - 12th grade) is eligible to apply for the merit awards on his/her/the group's own behalf.

• Any RI resident or RI group/organization may apply for the merit awards on behalf of an educator or team of educators teaching in a Rhode Island school upon consent of that person or teaching team.

  • Please note that if you are nominating an indivdiual or team, please let them know so that they can provide you with the very detailed information about their program that is necessarry to compete for this award.

• Applicants do not need to be civics, history, or social studies teachers specifically

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AWARDS PROCESS

Through a review of submitted on-line applications three individual Rhode Island teachers or team of teachers will be selected to receive a financial merit award. Award recipients will be ranked in the following manner:

• First Place: Grand Prize, $2,000

• Second Place: Jury Prize, $1,000

• Third Place: Honorable Mention, $500

Because this is a merit award in recognition for what a teacher has accomplished, the manner in which funds from this award are spent are left exclusively to the discretion of the recipients.

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There will be three evaluators, one of whom may be a member of the LWVRI Board of Directors or its designee.

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Award decisions will be announced in early-April.  The award ceremony will be held 4/29/26 @ 3:30pm at the RI State House Library

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HOW TO APPLY

FORMAT

The online application form consists of two parts:

• Applicant/Nominee(s) Information

• Descriptive Narrative​

 

APPLICANT/NOMINEE(S) INFORMATION

The online form submission should include the following information:

• Name of individual or group submitting the application;

• Name of merit award nominee(s), job title(s), home mailing address(es), e-mail(s) and phone number(s);

• Name, address and phone number of nominee(s)'s school;

• Name of the individual to be the primary contact (designated contact) along with e-mail address and phone number.​

 

DESCRIPTIVE NARRATIVE CONTENT

To allow the greatest flexibility in presenting important details, applicants must submit a descriptive narrative of the work relevant to the aforementioned criteria. This work will be referred to as "the program." The narrative may be composed within the online form or downloaded as a completed word document.

Some useful information to include in the narrative is listed below. It is not necessary or expected to address every bullet point specifically. The purpose of this list is to help with the composition of the narrative so that the details will illustrate the relevance, distinctiveness and effectiveness of "the program."

• Description of the educator's career development and interest in civic education;

• Number and demographic description of students effected by "the program;"

• The goal or purpose of "the program;"

• How long has "the program" been implemented and describe how it has evolved and improved;

• Description of how "the program's" effectiveness is monitored within a school year and/or from year-to-year;

• What information is gathered from monitoring "the program" and describe how this information helps to improve "the program;"

• Statistical/anecdotal information illustrating highlights of the program and/or distinctive nature of "the program;"

• Public recognition of the value of "the program" in the school's community -- locally or wider in scope;

• What about "the program" is worth replicating in other schools and describe how viable such replication would be.​

 

ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS

Open to all RI K-12 individual teachers or teams of teachers who are directly teaching students. All RI educators and the individuals or groups who nominate them are encouraged to apply annually, although award recipients are not eligible to apply for the three (3) consecutive terms following receipt of their merit prize.

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ONLINE APPLICATION

Applications are due no later than midnight on March 25, 2026

Apply here:   https://forms.gle/ENx6SruMGPzgGLFe6

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QUESTIONS ABOUT WILSON MERIT AWARDS

To contact The League of Women Voters South County about anything related to these awards, email wilsoncivicawards@gmail.com and include a phone number.

 

Eligibility disclaimer:
1. Family members of LWVRI Education Fund Board of Directors, LWVRI Operating Board of Directors or LWVSC dues paying members are not eligible to receive these awards.
2. Awarding of prizes will be at the discretion of the panel of judges, including that no prizes may be awarded.

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A list of previous winners can be found HERE.