Teacher of the Year -

TEACHER OF THE YEAR

VFW National "Teacher of the Year” Program

2023-2024 TEACHER OF THE YEAR PROGRAM

The VFW will recognize and honor the top Elementary (K-5), Junior High (6-8), and High School

(9-12) Teacher of the year, who teaches citizenship and education topics and promotes America’s history, traditions, and institutions. Attributes considered will be the scope of the teaching on both the students and the community.

Who can submit

Fellow teachers, supervisors, or any other interested individual may submit nominations. Self-submitted nominations are allowed.

The nominating individual must submit the nominated Teacher’s name on the completed VFW Teacher Nomination Form. The form includes a 350-word or less description of why the nominee should be selected. Describe the Teacher’s innovative teaching and resource development methods and their dedication to teaching. Submit these to the local VFW Post before October 31, 2023.

Post

The Post Commander/Chairman will complete the application by including the following items. This is a necessary list (without all six items, the application will be considered incomplete and will not be judged).

Original VFW Teacher Nomination Form
Description of Teacher’s methods (350 words or less)
National Smart/Maher VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher Advancement Form
One page listing the Teacher’s innovations and accomplishments (may use both sides)
Do Not Exceed five 8 ½ x 11 pages of documentation.
A quality head and shoulder photograph. Wallet size.
Note: It is encouraged to put the above in sheet protectors in a 3-ring binder to keep all documentation together.

NOTE to Post Commanders/Chairmen: The above items must be included exactly as stated, or your entry may be returned or even disqualified at the District level. Only one nominee will be selected from each of the three categories. Selected applications must be forwarded to the District to arrive no later than November 16, 2023.

District

The District will then judge and select only one nominee in each category.

The District Commander/Chairman will complete the District portion of the "National Smart/Maher VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher Advancement” Form.

Selected Post Teacher Entry Forms will be forwarded directly to the Department Director. The deadline for receipt of District entries to the Department Director is December 16, 2023. Applications must include all the above items. Only entries from the District Commander or District Chairman will be accepted at the Department level. The district must include the National Smart/Maher VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher Advancement Form. This is to ensure that all participating Posts receive credit.

NOTE to District Chairman: It is your responsibility to ensure that Posts have included all six items described above and that they are as specified. If you do not receive the proper documents from Posts, send them back to the Post for correction. DO NOT pass them on to the Department.

It is also your responsibility to ensure the District Teacher of the Year Award Report Form is filled out properly and submitted to the Department. If the above requirements are not met, it could disqualify your District’s entry.

The Post, District, and Department adjutants input the Teacher of the Year entries into the All-American Dashboard. This is to include all monetary values spent on this event. Failure to do so can cause the Post, District, and Department to show a Not Met in this category.

Deadlines

Post - Received no later than October 31, 2023

District - Received no later than November 16, 2023

State - Received no later than December 16, 2023

Awards

One winner in each category (elementary, junior high, high school) will be awarded the following at our 2024 Mid-Winter Conference.