The time I spent in teaching English as an associate professor was a challenging time indeed! I worked in the community college’s learning center, and was associated with a special government-funded program for students, offering support and service. Normal activities included teaching with the help of computers for students in all disciplines, auxiliary classes, and other classes. But special duties concerned “special” students. Some were from financially-strained families; some were skilled but could not pursue an education; people from ethnic groups; and those with learning disabilities. Even those who were mentally handicapped or were victims of emotional disturbances were accepted. So we were always busy with organizing thoughtful and seasonal events, having celebrations, conducting contests, and distributing prizes and trophies.
Suffice it to say, we were big on student empowerment and success. We were just as big on ceremony, especially on the kind that acknowledged and honored hard work, unifying attitudes, and academic acceleration. As classified employees, we had the pleasure of determining, choosing, and ordering the trophies and awards the students and supporters (teachers, tutors, sponsors, et. al.) would receive. Two of my closest co-workers, friends and I would get the trophies and awards catalogues and look them over as if they were The Enquirer or a copy of Cosmo. We kept an eye toward finances, but we also went at the task of ordering these trophies with creativity and enthusiasm that yielded theme trophies and awards, unusual trophies and awards, and thoughtful, pragmatic trophies and awards.
It is important to know the recipient of the award. Say, a person is about to retire from service. And he is someone who is generally quiet by nature. For such a person, we ordered a plaque made of wood and gold that had our heartfelt appreciation etched on it. These words conveyed our appreciation for his dedication and diligence. Thus, an individual’s personality, style, likes and dislikes–all play a role when selecting an award for him or her.
The September 11 bombing brought a crunch time and many co-workers decided to retire from service. What they got were stipends for each year of service that they had put in. They were now unemployed, but those who got to stay in their places and needed the jobs were overjoyed. Even then, we were in charge of the awards ceremony. There were the usual retirement parties with the paraphernalia of speeches, food, itineraries, and so on. But the trophies we ordered were special. The learning center Trio program were known as STAARS (student academic and retention services). So we hunted around and finally got golden figures holding up giant stars. The recipients felt like Academy Award winners! This sure beat the time-honored way of recognizing people, and the recipients would have happy memories for years to come.
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