Louis E. Yavner Teaching and Citizen Awards

The Louis E. Yavner Teaching Award recognizes an elementary or secondary, public and nonpublic school teacher in New York State who has made an outstanding contribution to education about the Holocaust and other violations of human rights.

Teaching Award Criteria: The nominee’s work related to the Holocaust and other violations of human rights will be judged according to the following criteria:

• Activities in public and/or nonpublic schools, including courses taught, extracurricular activities for students, school-wide programming, etc. within the last 5 years
• Activities outside of school, such as workshops, presentations, exhibits, etc. which have benefited professional associations, higher education institutions, cultural institutions, civic groups, and/or service organizations within the last 5 years
• Total number of students, teachers, and others reached through both in school and out of school  activities
• Impact of work on students, the local community, professionals and others

Teaching Award Documentation: Documentation must be provided that supports the criteria listed above. Documentation should include:

• Application form submitted by nominator;
• A letter of recommendation from the nominator, summarizing the nominee’s contributions;
• At least 2 other letters of recommendation; and
• Candidate submission:
  1. A short biography or resume, including a chronological listing of activities (e.g., classes, workshops, presentations, exhibits), awards and/or honors received, and publications;
  2. Description of in-school activity including number of teacher/students reached;
  3. Description of activity outside of school including the number of people reached;
  4. Example of materials developed and/or published;
  5. Media reports of activities, if any; and
  6. Letters received from students, parents or colleagues regarding activities.

See deadline and submission information below.

The deadline for submission of nominations for the 2024 award has been extended to November 15, 2024. The names of the award winners will remain confidential until the award ceremony at a Board of Regents meeting in January 2025.

All documentation may be submitted electronically to P12StandardsInstruction@nysed.gov. Please use YAVNER AWARD as the subject.

Printed documentation may be mailed to Office of Standards & Instruction, Louis E. Yavner Award, New York State Education Department, Room 860 EBA, Albany, NY 12234.

Any questions please contact the Office of Standards & Instruction via email: P12StandardsInstruction@nysed.gov or telephone 518-474-5922.