The Amistad Commission invites all public school employees, school board members, parents, students and other members of the public to nominate K-12 teachers for the Amistad Commission’s Exemplary Award. Teachers may also nominate themselves. Potential nominees are public school teachers who have developed exemplary lessons, units of study, or courses of study that implement the Amistad curriculum as aligned to the New Jersey Student Learning Standards. The award is designed to promote teaching the Amistad curriculum and encourage the infusion of African American history into social studies curricula. Each award recipient receives $2,500 in recognition of their extraordinary contributions. In addition, the recipient’s school district receives $2,500 for the district’s implementation of the Amistad Curriculum. The award will be presented at the commission’s 2025 Summer Institute in Atlantic City.
For each nomination, the following must be emailed the commission’s administrative assistant, Glender Terrell, at glender.terrell@doe.nj.gov. The deadline is May 2, 2025.
- Teacher’s full name, telephone number, email address; school and district information; and grade level and/or course.
- Summary of accomplishments within the past two years that provide evidence of infusion of the contributions of Africans and African Americans in the context of American history courses in social studies, world history, and other disciplines (visual or performing arts, language arts literacy, science, world languages, math, etc.)
- Evidentiary documentation of exemplary lessons promoting the Amistad Curriculum.
- Lesson plans, student projects, and videos.
- School or district-level student-centered programs, projects, activities, or videos.