The mission of ACSA is to ensure that all students have the essential skills and knowledge needed to excel. On every school day throughout California, dedicated educators and courageous students overcome tremendous obstacles to reach that goal. Their success is our success; their powerful stories are our inspiration.
ACSA’s Every Student Succeeding program honors students who exceed our expectations and the educators who support them along the way. We are proud to highlight these young men and women who have overcome great obstacles to succeed. They face life’s challenges head on. Their stories are remarkable and their futures are bright.
Purpose. The purpose of this award is to honor students at all grade levels who have succeeded, against all odds, beyond expectations or simply won the hearts of the administrators and other educators who helped them achieve their goals. One student from each region will be honored.
Eligibility. The success of these students should be tied to the work of ACSA administrators. We know that other educators will also have made significant contributions to their support, including board members, teachers, guardians, community members, etc.
Nominees should be students who have made a special effort to succeed and have overcome obstacles such as:
- Returning to school
- Leaving a gang
- Improving their attendance
- Changing their attitude
- Overcoming physical and mental barriers
They should also be active in:
- After school programs
- Community service
- Student conflict resolution
- Cross-age tutoring
- Peer mediation
- Peer tutoring
Nominees can come from programs such as:
- Alternative Education
- At-risk
- Bilingual
- Continuation School
Nomination Process. Nominations must be sent directly to the nominee's region. Each region will select one winner and honor them at region events throughout the year. Nomination forms are available for download here.
Deadline. Contact your region president or check your region's web site for the region deadline. The deadline for submission of recipient information to state ACSA by region presidents is Friday, March 16, 2012. Regions, please send your completed student nomination form (only one student recipient per region) to the state ACSA Awards Committee executive:
Attention: Emily Senecal, ACSA
1029 J Street, Suite 500, Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 329-3833 • Fax: (916) 290-0385
Email: esenecal@acsa.org
Recognition. Students are recognized in EdCal (see examples below), and at ACSA's annual Leadership Summit in November. A video featuring the students' photos and success stories is premiered at one of two Summit General Sessions. Additionally, many regions recognize their ESS student recipients on the regional level.
View videos of past ESS student recipients.