Photos courtesy of Arlington Civic Association
What makes a community great? Friendly neighbors? Green space? What about local amenities? For a family looking to put down roots, one thing is for sure: there needs to be good schools.
The Upper Arlington Civic Association couldn’t agree more, which is why the organization founded the Golden Apple Awards in 1981.
“They actually started small; there were only three teachers selected the first year. We now celebrate 12 recipients, across all of the public and private high schools, middle schools, elementary schools and pre-schools located in Upper Arlington,” says Brian Noble, director of the Golden Apple Awards and UACA member. “We also opened them up to faculty and staff, so everyone at the school is now eligible to win one of these awards.”
According to Noble, the Golden Apple Awards showcase the dedicated individuals that make a high standard of education attainable in Upper Arlington.
“These awards are a forum for students, parents, peers and community members to support those folks who are impacting students and to recognize excellence,” says Noble. “The schools really make such a difference in our community and we want to make sure we are recognizing the folks who are making that difference.”
The UACA collects nominations via the organization’s website through an online form. Those who submit a nomination have the opportunity to include a personal note or story exemplifying the nominee’s character and why he or she deserves a Golden Apple Award. Then, after much deliberation, the UACA directors select a single winner from each school.
“This year (the surprise award ceremonies) will be midway through March and we actually do a visit to the classroom or to the school – sometimes there’s so many students who want to attend that we end up in a gymnasium or auditorium,” says Noble. “The administrators of the schools do an excellent job of helping us keep secrecy on this. We don’t want the winners to hear about it or have an idea that they’re going to win until we are in front of them.”
Last year, Kyle Evans was recognized at Hastings Middle School. Now in his seventh year at Hastings, Evans works in a classroom with students who have multiple disabilities – the very same classroom in which he used to volunteer when he was once a student at Hastings.
“The students and staff here are really supportive of my class. We’ve got quite a vision of inclusion here, where we want the students in my class to be as much a part of the school as they can be and have a good population of the students outside of my classroom be accepting, and be good friends,” says Evans. “We have a program called Best Buddies, and it’s been really great.”
The Best Buddies program offers other students the chance to connect with those in Evans’ classroom; these volunteers give up their free time during lunch and enrichment periods to work in the classroom and build personal relationships.
“We have a lot of peers, through our Best Buddies program, that come into our classroom – a lot of them daily – to see, spend time with and work with students in a variety of settings here in my classroom and even outside of school through different social opportunities,” says Evans.
With so many people participating in the program, it’s no surprise that students and peers nominated Evans. It was, however, a surprise when the UACA directors and his friends and family showed up in the classroom to present him with a Golden Apple Award.
“It totally took me off guard; I felt super appreciated and was fighting back tears big time. It was a really special moment,” says Evans. “It’s funny, I had just told my wife a day or two before, ‘Oh, I saw that someone won in another building. I wonder who is going to win in our building.’”
Evans was just one of 12 deserving recipients, all with heartfelt, moving stories; a list of past winners dating back to 2014 can be found online. Now in its 39th year of the Golden Apple Awards, UACA accepted nominations Jan. 7 through March 1, with a goal to announce winners mid-March.
Jenny Wise is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at jwise@cityscenemediagroup.com
