NCTE LGBTQIA+ Advocacy & Leadership Award
2025 Recipient: Josh Thompson
Virginia Tech
A product of rural public schools, Josh Thompson is a queer Appalachian educator, scholar, and writer. He is currently a PhD candidate in English education at Virginia Tech, where he teaches courses in teacher education and place-based identity development in local and global contexts. His research examines rural queer and trans adolescent literacy and critical place-based study-abroad pedagogy. Thompson is also an advocate for queer and trans communities in rural Southwest Virginia. He has led queer book clubs for local students and is a cofounding member of Community Pride in Blacksburg, which focuses on cultivating queer- and trans-affirming spaces throughout the region. A member of NCTE since 2013, he has served as a member and chair of the Secondary Section Steering Committee and member of the Executive Committee.
Literacy is how we connect, build relationships, understand each other, and imagine new possibilities—in a word: worldmaking. I hope my work shows students, especially rural queer and trans students, that they matter and their stories deserve to be heard. I also hope that my work helps teachers create educational spaces where all students feel recognized, valued, and capable of contributing to a more inclusive society. I do this work because every person deserves a world that loves and celebrates them, and in every literacy classroom lies the power of making such a place a reality.
Award Details
Members of the LGBTQIA+ community have always been active in literacy teaching and learning; they also have been active members of NCTE. This award demonstrates NCTE’s vision to strengthen an increasingly inclusive organization that provides more access to diverse voices. This award also helps promote cross-community connections and values and supports the agency of diverse leaders in the field.
Purpose:
To recognize a member of the LGBTQIA+ community who has made a significant contribution to NCTE and to the development of our professional community.
Frequency and Number of Awards:
This award will be bestowed only when the Award Selection Committee decides a nomination warrants presentation of the award. This award may not be given each year. This award may be given posthumously. Only one recipient will be selected each year.
Eligibility:
Any member of the LGBTQIA+ community can nominate themselves or be nominated for this award. By LGBTQIA+ we mean lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual; the plus indicates the inclusiveness of others who don’t identify as L, G, B, T, Q, I, or A, such as two spirit, pansexual, or others. Nominations will be sent to the Award Selection Committee, with the selected candidate forwarded to the Executive Committee. (Given the problematic history of labeling members of the LGBTQIA+ community, NCTE wishes to clarify that specific titles are not required for this award.) The Executive Committee will approve the committee’s selection. All applicants, submitters, and nominees must be NCTE members at the time of submission. We remind nominators, nominees, and selection committee members that members of NCTE Conferences—CCCC, CEL, ELATE, LLA, and TYCA—are members, by definition, of NCTE.
Current NCTE Executive Committee members are not eligible for this award. Recipients of this award are not eligible to receive any other Executive Committee approved awards in the same year, nor in the following year.
Application/Submission/Nomination Requirements:
Required materials for submission are a cover letter or letter of nomination and a resume/CV.
Award Criteria:
The bold statements are the award criteria. The remaining statements are intended to describe some of the possibilities suggested in the criteria and are not intended to be rated individually. Please remember that individuals have different levels of access to various opportunities (for example, rural vs. urban instructors). In other words, what is the level of the nominee’s contribution based on the level of opportunity, resources, and support?
Significant contribution to NCTE
- Service to NCTE (national, regional, local, and campus levels as well as conferences, affiliates, assemblies, caucuses, etc.)
- Committees
- Elected roles
- Service “work” (serve at registration table, read proposals, etc.)
- Write for/present at NCTE-affiliated conferences/publication venues
- Publish
- Present
- Edit or review
Development of our professional community
Professional communities focused on literacy learning can be varied (e.g., global, national, regional, and local/campus).
- Teaching
- Innovate classroom curriculum
- Develop district/state/national curriculum
- Scholarship
- Attend conferences
- Produce and share research or other scholarly activities
- Service
- Participate in and/or lead scholarly organizations
- Participate in and/or lead social justice–oriented organizations
- Professional development
- Design and/or deliver profession learning engagements for community members
Advancing members of the LGBTQIA+ community
- Activities/work/processes that promote and support the advancement of the LGBTQIA+ community in the profession, in literacy-related activities, and in public engagement
- Creating a culture of change in their school, community, and/or professional organization
Strong candidates tend to show strength in all three areas.
Selection Committee:
The NCTE President appoints one Executive Committee member to serve as chair and four NCTE members-at-large from relevant NCTE groups.
Nature of the Award:
- A plaque is given to the recipient during the NCTE Awards Session.
- The recipient will also receive:
- A complimentary NCTE Annual Convention registration
- Domestic round-trip coach airfare to the NCTE Annual Convention
- One night lodging (Friday) with meals
Please contact NCTEawards@ncte.org with any questions.
LGBTQIA+ Advocacy & Leadership Award Previous Recipients
2024 सौरभ आनंद / ਸੌਰਭ ਆਨੰਦ / Saurabh Anand, University of Georgia
2023 shea wesley martin, The Ohio State University
2022 Henry “Cody” Miller, SUNY Brockport
2021 Stephanie Anne Shelton, The University of Alabama
2020 Roxanne Henkin, The University of Texas at San Antonio
2019 Mollie Blackburn, The Ohio State University