NCTE Affiliates Confer 2003 Intellectual Freedom Awards

Since 1975, SLATE (Support for the Learning and Teaching of English) has been an NCTE Standing Committee on social and political concerns.  SLATE seeks to influence public attitudes and policy decisions affecting the teaching of English language arts at local, state and national levels.  SLATE makes no policy of its own, but seeks to implement and publicize the polities adopted by NCTE.  SLATE serves as NCTE’s intellectual freedom network.

The NCTE/SLATE Intellectual Freedom Awards have been in existence since 1997.  The awards recognize those individuals, groups, or institutions that have advanced the cause of intellectual freedom.  These awards are given in two categories: (1) a national Intellectual Freedom Award and (2) state, regional, and provincial affiliate awards.  Following are those recognized as 2003 NCTE/SLATE Affiliate Intellectual Freedom Award Winners.  These winners, in addition to being honored by their affiliates, will be honored at the NCTE Annual Convention in San Francisco, California, at the Affiliate Roundtable Breakfast, November 22, 2003. 

Kentucky Council of Teachers of English/Language Arts (KCTE/LA) recognizes Dr. Robert F. Sexton.  Robert Sexton has been at the center of a generation-long struggle to lift Kentucky’s schools from the bottom rungs academically into models of effectiveness.  As the Executive Director of the Prichard committee, an independent, state-wide, non-partisan, advocacy group dedicated to the improvement of education, he was instrumental in filing legal briefs, conducting research and testifying before the state supreme court for a decision mandating legislative reform of the school system.  This reform has boosted teachers’ salaries, created fairer funding systems for school districts, and holds each school accountable for its performance.

Nebraska English Language Arts Council (NELAC) recognizes Douglas Christensen.  Nebraska Commissioner of Education, Douglas D. Christensen, is honored by the Nebraska English Language Arts Council for his persistent advocacy of Nebraska teachers and their intellectual freedom to use their best professional judgments in the classroom.  He argues, “Decisions about whether or not students are learning should not take place in the legislature, the governor’s office, or the department of education.  They should take place in the classroom, because that is where learning occurs.”  (P. Roschewski, C. Gallagher, and J. Isernhagen.  April 2001.  Nebraskans Reach For The Stars, Phi Delta Kappan.) 

Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts (OCTELA) recognizes C.J. Bott.  Bott has initiated several projects and programs that qualify her for this honor.  Among these are a non-harassment statement for all classes in the Shaker Heights City School District, grades 4-12; a Gay Straight Alliance; and Women Helping Educate Women (WHEW), a women’s group that primarily seeks to teach young women healthy ways to cope with their feelings, to make good decisions regarding their future careers, and to be independent thinkers.  She also created a course in social needs in fiction and non-fiction that deals with censorship, violence, homophobia, bullying, and homelessness. 

Wyoming Association of Teachers of English (WYATE) recognizes Karen Delbridge.  When Karen Delbridge was a brand new English teacher in 1996 in Tennessee, she took to heart the idea that students need to write for a clear purpose and audience.  Some of her sophomores wrote letters to the editor of the local newspaper.  Their thesis was that if the community had money to spend on a new expensive project, then they had the money to begin plans to build a new high school.  The flurry of letters turned into a blizzard of reactions, and Karen was chastised for her involvement by several school board members.  Throughout this year when the board tried to thwart her success and close her students’ freedom of speech, Karen learned one thing for sure:  The pen is mighty!