Awards

CEL Kent Williamson Exemplary Leader Award

2021 Winner:  Jocelyn A. Chadwick

The award will be presented during the CEL Annual Convention.

Jocelyn A. Chadwick is a career-long English teacher and international scholar. She was previously a full-time professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she still lectures and conducts seminars occasionally. In addition to teaching and writing, Chadwick also works with grades 4-12 students and teachers around the country, focusing on literature, writing, and curriculum development.  

Chadwick also is an expert consultant for NBC News Learn and a past-president of NCTE. Her current projects include PBS American Masters, PBS The Great American Read, PBS Learning Media, NBC Today–Parenting, a new book series for the Folger Shakespeare Library, recurring blogs for Education Week, and consulting for the Center for Mark Twain Studies and Savvas (Pearson).  

Chadwick has written many articles and books, including The Jim Dilemma: Reading Race in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Common Core: Paradigmatic Shifts; Teaching Literature in the Context of Literacy Instruction; “Mark Twain Meets Generation Z: Challenges, Questions, and New Perspectives;” “We Dare Not Teach What We Know We Must: The Importance of Difficult Conversations;” “21st Century Challenge: Necessary Perspectives on Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as Anti-Slavery Novels;” Critical Insights: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, H. W. Wilson, The Great American Read-PBS “Character vs. Society: Examining the Multi-layers of Invisibility and Visibility in Invisible Man;” and “Our Students ARE Writing: Time for US to Adjust Our Lens Through Which We Teach Writing,” forthcoming in Education Week; and A Celebration of Toni Morrison for NBC Today. Chadwick has worked with PBS, WNET, WGBH, and BBC Radio. She was also invited to the White House as panel member for the series “Celebrating America’s Authors” for Ken Burns’s Mark Twain.   

Chadwick’s new book in progress is Writing for Life: Using Literature to Teach Writing. 

Award Details

Nomination Deadline: March 1

Purpose:  The award is given annually to an NCTE member who is an outstanding English language arts educator and leader.

Award Criteria:  NCTE and CEL members are encouraged to nominate an exceptional leader who has had an ongoing impact on the profession through the following:

• Work that has focused on exceptional teaching and/or leadership practices;
• Contributions to the profession through involvement at the local, regional, and national levels;
• Presentations, workshops, and publications that have had an impact upon school leaders.

Candidates not selected for the year in which they are nominated will receive consideration for the next two years.

Award Specifics:  The recipient receives a plaque, CEL Luncheon ticket, a one-year complimentary CEL membership, and the gift of a one-year complimentary CEL membership to present to a colleague. The recipient may also be invited to speak at the CEL Convention. The award is presented at the Sunday CEL Luncheon during the NCTE Annual Convention.

Nomination Materials: The CEL Kent Williamson Exemplary Leader Award is given annually to an NCTE member who is an outstanding English Language Arts educator and leader. The award is named in honor of Kent D. Williamson (1957-2015), who served as NCTE’s Executive Director from 2000-2015. Previous winners include Jocelyn Chadwick, Linda Rief, Ernest Morrell, Pam Allyn, Caro Jago, and Penny Kittle. Nominations should be emailed directly to the CEL Associate Chair, Dr. Emily Meixner, meixner@tcnj.edu, by March 1.

Judging:  The CEL Award Committee determines the recipient from the nominations submitted within the calendar year. For full consideration, award applications must be received no later than March 1. Candidates not selected for the year in which they are nominated will receive consideration for the next two years.