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STC Education Committee
Year-End Report 2000-2001

	Summary
	Presented at 48th International Conference in Chicago
	Scholarships
	Melissa Pellegrin Memorial Scholarship Fund
	Support to Secondary Education
	Fifth Annual Central Florida High School Technical Writing Competition
	Sixth Annual Central Florida High School Technical Writing Competition
	Communication and Publicity
	Professional Development of Chapter Members
	Individual Recognition

Summary

2000-2001 was a successful year for the Education Committee. Topping the list was the 5th Annual Florida High School Technical Writing Competition, which was marked both by a four-fold increase in entries and by Central Florida students capturing 3 of the 5 top awards in the International High School Writing Competition. The Pellegrin Memorial Scholarship Fund remained solid, and UCF graduate and undergraduate scholarships were awarded.

Presented at 48th International Conference in Chicago

• Participated in successful progression on educational outreach sponsored by the Practical Communication Committee (PCC), including a plethora of handouts (Murray)
• Participated in panel discussion/progression of Special Needs Committee and published paper in Proceedings (Voss)
• Conducted workshop on integrated strategic communication and published paper in Proceedings (Voss, with Wiese... featuring Murray as a "shill" in the audience)

Scholarships

• UCF:
   
• Presented a $500 graduate scholarship to Jason Nichols
• Presented a $500 undergraduate scholarships to Christina Payne
• Expansion:
   
• Developed an alternate scholarship program for technical communication students in other Central Florida colleges (the "Techie" Awards)
• Promoted same via a flyer and mail-outs
• Did not receive any applications for the new award

Melissa Pellegrin Memorial Scholarship Fund

• Fund remains sound despite an off year in the stock market
• Developed and printed an information flyer to be distributed with applications at UCF
• Matted and framed a photo of Melissa to be displayed in the English Department at UCF, alongside the plaque bearing the names of the scholarship recipients
• Mailed matted photos to Melissa’s family, along with a letter updating them on the status of the fund and the most recent scholarship recipients

Support to Secondary Education

• Did not receive a requested $10K grant proposal from the Society to fund development of a turnkey PowerPoint tutorial on the principles of technical communication; however, the door remains open to resubmit the proposal
• Participated in PCC progression on educational outreach at 48th Annual International Conference (Murray)
• Had article entitled "Leveraging Resources: How an STC Chapter Can Support Education in its Community and Professional Development for its Membership" accepted for publication in the Technical Communication Journal in fall '01 (Lippincott, Voss)

Fifth Annual Central Florida High School Technical Writing Competition

• Grew contest from 34 entries in 1999 to 159 entries in 2000, plus an additional 11 informal "entries" from a middle school (8th graders working for 9th grade credit) which received full judging and special recognition
  
  Note: Of the 159 high school entries, 126 came from two schools (Lake Brantley and Winter Springs, with 32 and 74, respectively), but we still broadened the range of schools participating and took our first step toward a state-wide competition with the addition of the Florida High School, which is entirely Web-based.
• Invited 12 student winners, along with their parents and faculty sponsors, to the April 2001 chapter meeting to receive their awards. Seven high school students, one middle school student, two faculty sponsors, and several family members attended.
• The highlight of the evening was a surprise presentation of the three awards from the International H.S. Writing Contest, including a $1,000 First Place award to David A. Zychinski, a sophomore at Lake Brantley H.S.
• Summary of winners:

• Received $500 in financial patronage from Intuitive Information, Inc. (via Marty Goodwin)

Sixth Annual Central Florida High School Technical Writing Competition

• Are planning to open up competition to 8th grade students enrolled in an English or science course that carries 9th grade credit (the result of the performance of the students from Parkway Middle School in an informal adjunct to last year's competition)
• Currently updating cover letter for mail-out to Central Florida (and possibly Tampa area) high school instructors, highlighting the success of Florida students in last year's international STC competition and focusing on the benefit of the contest as a turnkey instructional unit with high motivation impact and minimal teacher prep
• Currently updating Web site
• Are also updating competition flyer, detailed guidelines, and application form

Communication and Publicity

• Sent out press releases on Spring '01 scholarships and 5th Annual H.S. Contest awards (Smith):
   
• UCF campus newspaper
• High school newspapers
• Orlando Sentinel
• Chapter listserv
• Maintained and updated Web site for Education Committee:
   
• Posted press releases
• Updated page on high school competition

Professional Development of Chapter Members

• Offered a number of skills-oriented chapter meetings
• Sponsored special workshop on disabilities awareness, featuring Joan Bova of Action Disability Advocates, Inc.
• Participated in August 2000 chapter meeting to share professional enrichment from the 47th Annual International STC Conference in Orlando, using the traditional potpourri format ("Washlines VI")... we also plan to support Washlines VII in August 2001, reporting on the 48th Annual International Conference in Chicago
• Posted notes from the 47th and 48th Annual International Conferences to the Education Committee Web page

Individual Recognition

• Jon Kessler received the Orlando Chapter’s Distinguished Service Award for his efforts in expanding the Florida High School Technical Writing Competition, which led to three Florida students capturing first, third, and fifth place in this year’s International Competition, as well as creating an electronic judging tool that greatly facilitated the work of 12 geographically dispersed judges and allowed for all 159 contest entrants to receive individualized feedback.
• Dan Voss was named a Fellow within the Society and was recognized at the conference in Chicago.