Scholarship and Artistry Awards for 2017 Announced at Annual Conference
by Joan Prouty
The Scholarship and Artistry Committee members spend their winter months reading through the submissions received. Each year we have a variety if entries and all from different genres.
How do you rate a scholarly entry, a documentary video, a children’s fiction book, or local school district history collections to select a winner? It isn’t easy. Somehow one entry seems to creep towards the top of each evaluators list and surprising – most of the time –several reviewers have the same rankings and/or are very close.
Funding for this award comes from membership dues and a sponsor. We offer two awards of $300 each.
For 2017 our first Scholarship and Artistry Award goes to:
Allison Speicher for her scholarly book “Schooling Readers."
Allison has compiled one hundred and thirty school stories by well known authors such as Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Catharine Maria, and other educational reform pioneers such as C.W. Bardeen. The stories reflect not just the idealized depictions of common school with the community bonding but also the social strife, and the reality. Her book includes and extensive bibliography. Some of you may have purchased a copy in Texas last June before the formal release.
For purchase at Barnes & Noble on-line: SCHOOLING READERS
The second $300 award for 2017 is being shared between entries:
"One Room One Teacher – From One Room Schools to the Consolidation of the South Eastern School District," by Roger B. Wilson and Kathryn B. Jordan.
This is book tells story of one specific school district in southern York County, PA, the South Eastern School District. The period covered is 1834-1954. From the passage of the PA School Law of 1834 to the consolidation of South Eastern School District in the early 1950’s.
The focus is all the one-room schools that were built by the eight small school districts that consolidated to make one. It features 45 one-room schools, eight two-room schools, six boroughs (or town) schools, and one private school, for a total of 60 schools.
The other submission to share this award is a children’s fiction book by P.J. Harte-Naus, "Backwoods Bully," of the Belden Boy Series.
This is the third book in the Belden Boy Series. Pat began writing the Belden Boy books after discovering the Belden School, helping in the restoration process, meeting a former student and listening to the stories he told. Now she hosts field trips and writing camps at the restored Belden School along with telling the stories of Peter McDugal and his pals.
Available at AMAZON: BACKWOODS BULLY
Check out "Belden Boy" and "My Sometimes Pal," more adventures of Peter McDugal! Three books in the series to date.
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