CAP Form 50-3 Instructions OPR/ROUTING: AE
The Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Education Teacher of the Year Award
Purpose: The Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Education Teacher of the Year Award is a national-level award
established to recognize and reward any Civil Air Patrol member who is a certified K-12 teacher for
outstanding accomplishments in aerospace/STEM education and for possessing those honorable
attributes we expect from American teachers who are inspiring the next generation of aerospace-related
STEM citizenry.
Nomination Qualifications and Guidelines:
• See expanded/more specific Qualifications on the CAP Educators Award Page HERE.
1. Any Aerospace Education Member (AEM) or Senior (uniformed) Member of CAP who is a
certified K-12 teacher is eligible.
2. Eligible teachers may nominate themselves or be nominated by someone else by submitting a
complete package of the nomination form and up to 10 additional pages, as described below.
3. Nominees will be judged at the state (CAP Wing) level after January 15 submissions, and, if
selected, will progress to the CAP regional level by the February 15 deadline. If selected at the
regional level, will end at the CAP national level by March 15 deadline for final selection.
4. The national winner will be notified by the first week of May in order to make plans to attend the
CAP Summer National Conference (date and location determined annually).
5. State and Regional winners will be notified of their accomplishment by the CAP State (Wing)
Director of AE and the Region Director of AE, as is appropriate.
Ten-page Maximum Nomination Package Requirements to be added to the nomination form
(please title each section):
Section 1- Nominee Overview: (1 page max)
One-page overview describing why nominee deserves the award (aligned with qualifications).
Section 2- Supervisory Endorsement Letter: (1 page max)
One-page letter of endorsement by school principal or other educational leader.
Section 3- Support Letters: (2 pages max)
Two additional one-page letters from colleagues, students, parents, or others that demonstrate
nominee’s exemplary teaching performance in aerospace-related STEM education.
Section 4- Photograph Collage and Event Descriptions: (3 pages max)
Three-page photograph collage with descriptions of classroom activities, field trips, special
events, etc. that depicts:
• creativity in developing and utilizing aerospace materials in the K-12 classroom to enhance
the teaching of the core curriculum, especially focusing on STEM-related curriculum areas
• student involvement and classroom activities that improve the learning by the student
through aerospace-related STEM education
Section 5- Optional Extra Documentation: (3 pages max)
Three extra pieces of documentation that enhance the nomination package. This may include
media coverage of nominee’s aerospace-related STEM events, special recognition received by
nominee or nominee’s students for aerospace-related STEM performance, etc.
***NO extra pages allowed beyond the nomination form plus 10 additional documentation pages.
Nomination Procedures:
Not later than January 15, send the completed package (nomination CAP Form 50-3 and allowed 10-
page maximum documentation pages, as noted above) to the educator member’s state (Wing) Director
of AE. * CAP DAE contact info is found on the CAP DAE listing HERE
. If there is any uncertainty, the
educator member can send the nomination package to ae@capnhq.gov and CAP National HQ/AE will
immediately forward this package to the appropriate state (Wing) Director of AE.
Award Elements:
• Free room and registration at the Civil Air Patrol’s Annual Summer National Conference (date
and location TBD each year)
• $1000 cash award and commemorative plaque (to be presented at CAP’s Annual Summer
National Conference Awards Ceremony)
