The Quest for Excellence Foundation increases professional recognition of after-school professionals through a national award program. It was established in honor of Rich Scofield, long time leader in the field of school-age care who passed away in 2004. Rich committed his career to the support and development of the people who every day provide enriching and nurturing environments for children and youth when they are not in school. The Quest for Excellence Award honors the dedication and commitment of these every-day heroes who spend their time with children during out of school hours.
What: A national award to recognize outstanding contribution of school-age care providers. The recipient receives one year's membership to National AfterSchool Association, paid registration to their annual conference, as well as a stipend for airfare and hotel accommodations.
Why: In honor of Rich Scofield, long time leader in the field of school-age care who passed away in 2004. Rich committed his career to the support and development of the people who every day provide enriching and nurturing environments for children and youth when they are not in school.
Requirements: This award is exclusively for front line staff who have worked "every day" directly with children in an after school program for at least two years. Site directors are eligible only if they also work directly with children. Candidates must work a minimum of ten hours a week as an employee of a school age care program that meets five days a week. The program can be based in a school, neighborhood location, military base or private program. A supervisor, parent, board member or teacher, etc., must submit the application on behalf of the nominee. Applicant must be available to attend the award presentation at the conference.
How: A nomination form is available here. To file a nomination electronically, please open the link and follow the directions to cut and paste the form into an email or word document. A .pdf version is also available to download and print. Use this version if you will fax or send your nomination in the mail.
When: Applications are due November 1. The award recipient will be selected by December 15.
Questions: Contact Kathleen Hermes, khermes@schoolagenotesfoundation.org.
Award History
2010 Award Recipient: See the video!
Doris Dannels represents the very highest standards in leadership, exemplary practice, commitment to continuous improvement, and professionalism in school-age care. She is an extraordinary child care professional who has dedicated her entire career of 20+ years to guiding and nurturing school age children, serving as Site Director at Frederiksen EDCC Center/ Extended Day Child Care, Inc. (EDCC) in Dublin, California.
Frederiksen Center served a Title I school in a very transient, lower income area, but included a high number of very concerned parents who wanted a high quality school age child care program for their children’s before and after school hours. Doris was the fifth person to step into the Director position of this center. The enrollment was declining, the discipline was weak, and the staff turnover was high. Within six months, astonishing changes were observed. Doris went to work immediately uniting her staff and giving them guidance and direction. She worked directly with the students and “took charge” of the discipline, modeling and teaching appropriate classroom management techniques and positive discipline with logical and appropriate consequences. She brought the parents into the process by holding regular meetings, creating a Parent Advisory Council, and meeting frequently with parents and students separately to resolve problems. She quickly became aligned with the school Principal and teachers, and met and communicated frequently with them to promote the EDCC program and reinforce the school’s activities and curriculum. Enrollment soared, stability was established, and staff, students and parents were extremely happy with the changes, and loved their new Director!
Doris has brought motivating, high quality enrichment such as Arts Attack, Music For Minors, and Sparks P.E. One of her staff members joked that Doris could be seen cleaning the kitchen or toilets just as often as delivering a lesson or behavior correction to a student. She is most definitely a “hands-on” Director and an exemplary model for her staff.
One of Doris’ greatest accomplishments is the holiday, annual Arts Performance which highlights the visual and performing arts activities the students have been participating in all year. She reserves the school multipurpose room for this evening event, and there is always a huge, “standing room only” audience. She guides her staff’s planning and implementation of this popular event each year. Students present a fabulous musical and drama performance as well as provide a beautiful display of student artwork that reflects her strong arts enrichment curriculum. Doris’ leadership and support has guided and motivated her staff to grow cohesively and professionally. She has created many collegial opportunities for her staff to work together in program and staff development as well as social bonding. They not only plan and train together, but they play together…. with monthly bowling nights, pizza nights, and baseball game attendance, adding the spouses/significant others often, as well. Her staff strongly state that they feel valued, supported, encouraged, and professionally guided under Doris’ direction.
She has an amazing ability to pinpoint employee areas for improvement and provide the structure, guidance, and modeling for even the most difficult employees. For such employees, we have seen her break down duties and responsibilities into smaller segments of training, and guide the employee’s daily training until her skills develop more consistently. Doris often includes a teacher or teacher assistant when doing parent conferences so they can learn the appropriate conferencing skills and the necessary diplomacy and sensitivity needed when talking with parents about their child. Doris is also committed to the child care profession by displaying the highest of standards in all that she does. Her staff members joke that she lives and breathes the NAA Standards, but she genuinely believes that guiding her staff to implement these standards is critical for the success of all. She not only serves as a model of such standards for her staff, but she has a very specific plan and timeline developed for gaining full accreditation for her center this year.
Doris just seems to know when to go that extra mile or make that extra effort. She not only delivers an excellent program of well planned activities to children, but she makes sure her center is a safe and nurturing place to be for everyone. Doris places a high value on professional development for herself as well as her staff. She attends national and state conferences annually as well as allocating funds for her teachers to participate in state and local conferences and trainings.
2009 Award Recipient: See the video!
Jean Phillips received the 2009 Quest for Excellence Award at the 2009 National AfterSchool Association Convention in New Orleans, LA in April. She has been the Site Director for the YMCA of Greater Kansas City program at Overland Trail Elementary School in Overland Park, Kansas for the past eight years.
Jean says, “I love my job!” and she knows what it takes to provide stimulating, safe, and exciting afterschool program every day. She has a natural way of developing and strengthening relationships with children, parents, staff and the school. Parents are invited to participate in daily activities so they fully understand and appreciate the goals she has set for the program.
Jean is considered a vital part of the school community. She spends time with the classroom teachers at lunch and attends many school activities. She promoted “Lights On Afterschool” to emphasize the importance of quality after school programs. This year, her site hosted a family night with a buffet dinner and family games.
She also is a mentor and provides lots of support and ideas to her staff team. Jean is very intentional about promoting the importance and professional aspect of the child care field. Staff go to her to learn more about their positions, gain assistance with challenges they may encounter, and discover ways to improve the lives of the children.
From the Virgin Islands, Jean shares her background and history with others around her. She feels it is extremely important for children and their families to learn more about other cultures. Jean has a natural enthusiasm for diversity and she exhibits it on a daily basis.
Her personal goal and passion of educating children on making healthier choices and being more physically active are obvious at her site. Each afternoon you will find the kids eating a healthy snack, working on homework, playing active games, learning about other cultures and differences and having fun doing it! During her program hours, Jean takes each “teachable moment” with the children to share new knowledge around healthy choices. Jean engages the children with menu planning and discussions about the food choices they make. She serves food that most children have never tried before and encourages them to sample and give feedback.
Jean also shares empowering statistics with parents and staff regarding childhood obesity and explores ways to work together to combat the growing epidemic. She is constantly going above and beyond to learn more about childhood health and how we can assist in getting the word out, not just in her program but also throughout the Kansas City community.
2008 Award Recipient: See the video!
The 2008 AfterSchool Professional Network Quest for Excellence Award was given to Christine Holtz from Luke Air Force Base on March 14 at the National AfterSchool Association national convention in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Christine has accomplished great things in her 13 years of work in afterschool programs. At the Luke After School Program, she mentors new staff, working side by side with them developing projects, helping them understand why we do what we do, rather than just telling them to do it. She has excellent rapport with her fellow staff members and provides a source of stability in the program.
Christine takes pride in her work and continually strives to improve. She worked hard to become a United States citizen, and shared her experiences with the children and staff. She is now furthering her education by returning to school to obtain her college degree. She encourages other staff members to do the same, and offers any type of support and assistance to help them obtain their goals. She assists in organizing events for staff to bond and build camaraderie outside of the normal duty hours.
A native of Luxembourg, Christine brings multiculturalism to the programs forefront. Her noticeable accent prompts many questions from the children. She is always open and brings in pieces of interest from her hometown to share. Recognizing the need for all cultures to be explored, Ms Christine heads up the monthly cultural board that highlights different cultures. There are arts and crafts projects, cooking projects, games and puzzles to peak the children’s interests. She also sets up several guest speakers/performers such as Tuskegee Airmen, Asian Pacific dancers, Spanish Heritage Piñata Party, Native American dream catchers, and African American week with reenactments of the underground railroad on a yearly basis.
Christine’s philosophy for the program goes much deeper than providing programs for school age children. She has a strong commitment to teach and guide children, to provide a wide range of experiences to show them their potential as leaders and give them the opportunity to excel. By the time they leave our program, their sense of usefulness, pride in what they do, respect for others and self-confidence in their self is her goal.
Ms. Christine is always finding innovative ways to keep the program current, fresh and a always a learning experience. Her activities are not only fun but often serve a deeper purpose. For example, she headed up a project to build a dollhouse in woodworking. The children had to make the blue prints all the way down to the landscaping, and determine the kind and amount of materials needed. This required the children to come together to problem solve, debate, and compromise on different aspects of the plan. Then the construction phase started. Again, children learned quickly that they needed to measure and calculate in order for their home to be accurate. Through this one project alone, children learned logical sequence, valuable communication skills, math, and teamwork. Another project she headed up was a Job Center. Here children apply for program jobs such as tour guides (assist in orientation of incoming families), zoo keeper (maintains our pets) and community leader (makes calls to set up community projects), and office assistant to name a few. After the children apply, the oldest children interview and fill the positions. This is a great ongoing activity demonstrating real life skills they will soon encounter as young adults joining the workforce. Another innovative idea developed due to the extreme summer heat in Arizona and the limitation of the children to enjoy the great outdoors. This was no challenge to Christine. She brought the outside in with an overnight campground in the drama area. The children’s imaginations soared when tents went up, sleeping bags went down, and a paper fireplace was created. Their imagination led to surrounding the camp with rocks and caves and a fishing hole. These are just a few examples of the innovative and quality lessons Christine does with the children weekly.
Christine is a tremendous mentor for new caregivers! Ms. Christine cheerfully assists the trainer in mentoring the new incoming staff. She immediately puts them at ease by answering all questions as they shadow her throughout the day. After spending time with Christine, staff is excited to start and feel secure knowing she is there and approachable whenever they need assistance. The seasoned staff has a noticeable respect for her and you often see them seeking her expertise or input on ideas they have. She is a great resource on all aspects of her job.
2007 Award Recipient
Johanna Clark was awarded the second annual Quest for Excellence Award at the National AfterSchool Association conference in Phoenix Arizona on March 22. Ms. Clark has been working with children at Pope Air Force Base for over 15 years. She is a School-Age Program Assistant and works every day with the 80 children who attend the program. Her accomplishments include:
- Working with older children to create Youth United Club. The club is governed by the children who have learned how to elect officers, prepare and give speeches, campaign, and vote. The club organizes community service projects; children have collected toiletry items, shoes, coats and nonperishable food for the homeless gifts for battered women and children; collected food and clothes for the Airman’s Attic; and visited seniors to read stories, do arts and crafts, share a meal and bring fresh vegetables from their garden.
- Participating in a reading mentor program. Children read each month to preschoolers enrolled at the Child Development Center. The children make puppets, hats, crafts and other propos that relate to the story they share with the preshoolers.
- Hosting an annual fashion and talent show. Ms. Clark coaches over 80 children, teaching them dance steps, routines, modeling, stage timing, voice and music. She coordinated with merchants to demonstrate the latest fashions. Children learned about modeling fitting, respecting others’ property and decision making.
- A full theatrical production of the play Cinderella. Over a two month period children worked with Ms. Clark to stage the production. They learned how to cast characters, audition, read scripts, get into character, stage prop and stage position. Children created their own costumes from old clothing and items they found around the building. They went to the thrift shop to find clothing that they could alter to fit. The play was performed in May 2006 for parents, friends, school staff and community leaders
- Training workshops on music for staff who work with school age and youth programs, puppetry and creating books for children.
Ms. Clark’s free time is spent creating and writing children’s books that deal with diversity. She enjoys literature and hopes to one day have one of her manuscripts published.
Receiving the award was a great achievement for Johanna. She said, “It was a wonderful experience. I felt like it was an honor standing before all of those people receiving the Quest for Excellence award. Not often people in my career field are recognized for things they do for youth. I think it is wonderful that this award exist and I will do all that I can to make the next nominee comfortable.” She also mentioned that she enjoyed the opportunity to have lunch with the keynote speaker LeVar Burton!
The Foundation is proud to recognize Johanna Clark with the 2007 Quest for Excellence Award!
2006 Award Recipient
The first Quest for Excellence Award was awarded to Robin Korson from Brewster, New York at the 18th Annual National AfterSchool Association Conference in Louisville, February 23-25, 2006.
For the past 13 years Robin has provided both before and afterschool care for the Green Chimneys School after school program, serving hundreds of children from area public schools. Her accomplishments are extensive and include examples of professional development, excellence in programming, successful parent engagement, and establishing lifetime relationships with children and families who have participated in the program. Under Robin’s leadership the program has just been awarded its National Afterschool Association accreditation status.
When asked about her work, Robin said, “I get so much satisfaction out of knowing I am providing a quality school-age program for my community. I know that the parents can go to work without worrying about where their children are and what they are doing before and after school. I also know that the kids know they can rely on me to listen to them when they have an idea or a problem. ” She believes that reliability is key to a good program. “The kids need to know you will be there for them all the time--this is important. Another thing I do is survey the children and parents to see what they want, like activities, field trips and homework help. I receive a lot of good ideas and incorporate most of those ideas into the program. I do this every year because the wants and needs are always different.”
Comments from her nomination include: “Robin listens to the children’s ideas for the program, and has worked with the children and staff to incorporate these ideas as a continuing part of the program. When children wanted to swim, she took a course to become a lifeguard. When they wanted to go on some after school excursions, Robin took a course to obtain a license to drive the bus.
Robin has developed an excellent rapport with the parents of children in her care. She involves them in the program, on a daily basis, by greeting them upon their arrival and/or departure. Robin provides parents with resource information when they seek her assistance. She has developed a variety of family nights, so the families, staff and children can enjoy what our program has to offer.
Award Nominations
Nomination forms for the Quest for Excellence award are available here.
Award Calendar
August 1: Submit nominations
November 1: Nomination deadline
December 15: Final decision and notification of recipient
Quest for Excellence Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization incorporated
in the state of Kansas to support to support quality after-school programs through a
national awards program, training and the promotion of excellence.
