Every year, the VFW recognizes the nation’s top elementary, junior high and high school teachers who promote civic responsibility, flag etiquette and patriotism. Teachers can be nominated by themselves, students, fellow teachers, supervisors, or any other interested party for the Smart/Maher VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher Award.
All currently certified/licensed teachers in grades K-12 eligible. Previous winners are ineligible.
To nominate a teacher, you will need to fill out the Smart/Maher VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher Award nomination form that can be found at https://www.texasvfw.org/teacher-recognition. Each nomination form must be submitted with an essay containing 350 words or less describing why you feel your nominee is worthy of the award. You can submit your nomination form and essay to your local VFW Post by Oct. 31. Judging occurs Nov. 1-15.
Based on the nominees submitted, the VFW’s local chapters will recognize one outstanding teacher in grades K-5, 6-8 and 9-12 and submit their choices and required documents to their district-level judges.
The selected winners are then forwarded to their state-level judges. Once they are judged on a state level, the winners are passed along to VFW National Headquarters to be considered for the national awards contest.
All post-level winners should provide a one to five-page resume as documentation of their teaching experience and a head-and-shoulder photo of themselves.
Smart/Maher VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher awards for K-5, 6-8 and 9-12 include a $1,000 Past Commander-in-Chief John Smart award for professional development expenses, a $1,000 award for each winning teacher’s school, plaques for both the winning teachers and schools, and an all-expense paid trip to attend the VFW National Convention. The top 10 high school teachers are invited to a summer Graduate Seminar at Freedoms Foundation in Pennsylvania.
