Ethel Percy Andrus Legacy Awards
In honor of AARP's founder and its 50th anniversary being celebrated in 2008, AARP created The Ethel Percy Andrus Legacy Awards. A $100,000 prize will be given to a public high school (grades 8 - 12) in cities that have been selected as focal points for AARP's 50th Anniversary celebration. The cities are Chicago, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. The winners were announced on February 7, 2008.
The 50th anniversary celebration also includes the Ethel Percy Andrus Legacy Award for Innovation, a $10,000 prize that will be awarded to one public secondary school (grades 8 - 12) in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands in recognition of an innovative program or practice currently operating in a school. Learn more about this $10,000 prize.
The winning schools in each of the 50th anniversary celebration cities will be awarded a $100,000 prize in recognition of a public high school program that has either fostered greater intergenerational understanding or enhanced civic engagement between the school and its local community. To learn more about the life of Ethel Percy Andrus, download a short biography of this woman's remarkable life (47K in PDF format, free Adobe Reader required).
More About the Award
The Prize
More About the Award
The award was created to recognize AARP's founder, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, a true pioneer in public school education. Prior to founding AARP, Dr. Andrus achieved broad recognition as a creative and forward thinking public high school educator in the state of California. Dr. Andrus was the first woman appointed to lead a public secondary high school in California and in that position developed and implemented a variety of innovative programs that served the interest of her students and the local community.
All public secondary school principals in the Celebration Cities were invited to apply for the award. Entries were accepted until November 1, 2007. The winning school was selected by a national Blue Ribbon Panel that was convened in Washington, DC. Click here to see a list of the winning school from each of the Celebration Cities.
The Prize
The winning public high schools are being awarded $100,000 for continued support of their program that addresses the challenge of connecting generations, or fostering greater civic engagement among their students and their community.
