John Bailes President Canadian Metric Association Dear John, I have decided to spell out my suggestion for a student metrication award in a little more detail, as it might also prove to be interesting to others.
However, that said, the example I give here is specifically aimed for use in Canada. Name of Award Alexander Graham Bell Metrication Award As you know, Alexander Graham Bell was originally from Brantford in Canada and he was an active supporter and proponent of the metric system both in Canada and in the USA throughout his life. You might like to read his thoughts on the metric system when he addressed a House committee in support of a bill to switch the USA to the metric system in 1906. See http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/laws/bell-1906-03.html for details. Alexander Graham Bell's talk was called, Our Heterogeneous System of Weights and Measures and it was his explanation of the reasons why the USA 'should abandon its obsolete system of inches, tons, and gallons'. Purpose of Award This is an award for metrication the process of upgrading to the metric system. Each prize-winning award will be for the student who in the opinion of the judges has done the most to promote the use of the metric system in their school or in their community. As a guide to judges it is an award that selects students who most emulate the metrication actions of Alexander Graham Bell Note: This is not an award for metric knowledge or for efficient personal use of the metric system. The winner must demonstrate that they have been active in promoting the use of the metric system to others. It is probably best to leave the specification as wide as possible to allow for the creativity of students as they decide how they might win this award. Three sections Primary School Students Secondary School Students Tertiary Students Nominations Nominations are called for when schools resume after the summer holidays. Issuing of awards The timetable of nominations and judging could allow for awards to be announced on: International Metric Day on the tenth day of the tenth month. Potential sponsors Bell Telephone Company Bell Homestead Historic Site, 94 Tutela Heights Road, Brantford 519-756-6220, www.bellhomestead.ca Nominations Nominations can be made by any teacher and they are then sent to the Canadian Metric Association for judging after endorsement by a school principal of tertiary institution Head of Department. Awards All participants receive: * A free (email) membership of the Canadian Metric Association for one year. (This would have the effect of immediately boosting CMA membership numbers in the much sought after young members area and some of these one year members might change into long term members). * A certificate of participation or recognition as a finalist in the judging. * A free pass to visit the Bell Homestead Historic Site (donated by Bell Homestead people as it could have the effect of boosting their numbers of visitors). And for each of the section winners > A cash prize for the winner of each section that might take the form of a > payment to the student when they make a presentation to the Canadian Metric > Association members describing their metrication work promoting the metric > system. Costs Costs need not be huge. The first year might only include * printing of 'invitation to nominate student' letters to principals (say $1.00 per school) * printing of posters to attract students to enter (say $1.00 per school) * printing of nomination forms (say $1.00 per school) * postage of letters and nomination forms to schools (say $1.00 per school) * postage of awards to all students who were nominated (say $2.00 per entry) * judging costs (probably voluntary) (say $0) * provision for cash awards to winners (maybe contributed by benefactors or sponsors) These prizes need to be high enough to motivate students to organise for themselves to be nominated by a teacher and to be endorsed by their principle.(say $1000 made up as $200 for the primary student prize, $300 for the secondary student prize, and $500 for the tertiary student prize) I am aware that costs are currently of great concern to the CMA so you might decide in the first instant to target only 100 or 200 schools as an economic decision and to try out the idea of a competition on a small scale. If you decided to try 100 schools the budget costs would be $600 for administration and $1000 for prizes and the budget for 200 schools would be $2200. Cheers, Pat Naughtin PO Box 305, Belmont, 3216 Geelong, Australia Phone 61 3 5241 2008 Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter, 'Metrication matters'. Subscribe at http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter Pat is recognised as a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist (LCAMS) with the United States Metric Association. He is also editor of the 'Numbers and measurement' section of the Australian Government Publishing Service 'Style manual for writers, editors and printers'. He is a Member of the National Speakers Association of Australia and the International Federation for Professional Speakers. See: http://www.metricationmatters.com This email and its attachments are for the sole use of the addressee and may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. 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