2024 ESP of the Year Criteria and Standards
Purpose: The MSEA Education Support Professional (ESP) of the Year Award recognizes the contributions of ESPs to their schools, communities, and their profession. The award is presented to a member of MSEA who demonstrates outstanding accomplishments and reflects the contributions of ESPs to public education.
Eligibility: All current ESP members of an MSEA local affiliate who have been members for at least three years as of January 1 of the award year are eligible. Nominees must be an active member at the time of selection. Individuals can be nominated by other MSEA members or through their local association. Local association nominees must obtain the signature of the local president.
Please note: Nominations may be disqualified if: the nomination packet is not complete, or the submission is outside the nomination guidelines; the nomination is received after the deadline; the local association nomination is not signed by the local president; or the nomination includes handwritten documents, clippings, articles, or photos.
Selection: All nominations must comply with the procedures for nomination and submission guidelines. Applications will be evaluated by the MSEA ESP Organizing Committee, a committee of association members, and recommended to the MSEA Board of Directors for final approval. Once the MSEA ESP of the Year is selected, the person or local affiliate who nominated the winner is responsible for ensuring all supporting materials and items needed for the award are sent to the MSEA ESP staff organizer. If a local ESP of the Year is chosen, the local president is responsible for ensuring the winner’s name and supporting materials are sent to the staff liaison of the ESP Organizing Committee for consideration for the statewide award. Applications will be evaluated by the MSEA ESP Organizing Committee, which is comprised of MSEA members and approved by the MSEA Board of Directors.
Criteria: Nominations will be considered according to the following four criteria: Impact on Students; Impact on Families and the Community; Union Engagement and Activism with a Focus on ESP Workforce Issues; and Impact on Colleagues. To help the nominee better tell their story and focus on their impact (instead of simply submitting a list of accomplishments), each criterion follows the same cadence: “What action was taken, and what impact did that action have?”
Submission Guidelines
The complete nomination package must be received at MSEA no later than 5:00 PM EST on July 1, 2024. Submissions by email are strongly preferred, but hard copies by mail will be accepted. Faxed copies will not be accepted. Send nomination packages via email to: [email protected] or by U.S mail to:
MSEA | Attn: MSEA ESP of the Year Application | 140 Main Street | Annapolis, MD 21401
Click here to access the nomination packet.
Questions? Contact Sean McKillop [email protected] 240/405-9650
A winner will be chosen by September 30, 2024 and recognized at the MSEA Representative Assembly in Ocean City, October 18–19. The MSEA ESP of the Year will be submitted as a nominee for the NEA ESP of the Year. Please note that additional requirements may need to be met in order to comply with the NEA’s nomination guidelines.