2025 Dick and Tunky Riley Award for SIC Excellence Instructions
LEVEL ONE APPLICATION (Maximum of 100 Points Possible)
Changes have been made to the Riley Award submission process for 2025. The Level One application will now be submitted through a JotForm located here.
Please submit the following information to the SC-SIC Board of Trustees Awards Committee via the JotForm:
1. School Data – 5 Points
⦁ Name and address of school.
⦁ Name of Principal with phone number and email address.
⦁ Complete contact information for the SIC Chair including home or work address, phone number, and email address.
⦁ Name of school district.
2. Case Statement – 65 Points
The Case Statement is a narrative describing how the SIC identified needs and challenges in the school and then responded to create positive results for the school and its community. The narrative must include: issue(s), action(s) taken, and result(s). The Case Statement should clearly identify when results occurred. Case Statements will be judged primarily on results that occurred during the 2023-24 school year, although actions may have been initiated in prior school year(s). If the activities described in the Case Statement did not begin to produce observable results until the current 2024-25 school year, your application will be deemed ineligible for consideration until the next Riley Award cycle and returned to your SIC.
Include sufficient school demographic information to provide context for your SIC's work. The Statement must be written collaboratively by the SIC.
Type your Case Statement in the box provided for the Statement on the JotForm in a maximum of 1800 words.
Tip: It may be helpful to type your Case Statement in a Word document so if you lose internet connection or another browser error occurs, you won’t lose any of your hard work!
Tip: It is expected that most SIC actions will be accomplished in partnership with the school and/or other individuals and organizations. It is important, however, to identify the specific ways that the SIC itself contributed to the collaborative effort. General statements about positive results at your school will not earn points if the judges cannot determine if or how your SIC assisted in achieving those results.
3. Membership lists demonstrating SIC composition in compliance with state law - 15 Points
Applicants must submit two separate SIC membership lists: one for the 2023-24 school year and one for the current 2024-25 school year. Each list must reflect SIC membership as it was reported to the SC-SIC Member Network.
Each list must be submitted in the box below. For each Member, type their name in the box under their respective elected, appointed, or ex-officio heading based on how they became a member of the SIC.
In order to receive full credit, each list must demonstrate that as of the December 11, 2024 reporting deadline, the SIC met all state law membership requirements.
At least the minimum of two (2) elected parent representatives;
At least the minimum of two (2) elected teacher representatives;
For schools serving grade 9 and above only, at least the minimum of two (2) elected student representatives;
Half as many appointed community members as the combined total of elected members (parent, teacher, and student, if applicable) so that the SIC has a ratio of 2/3 elected to 1/3 appointed members;
The Principal and any other ex-officio embers called in the for SIC's bylaws (these are not counted in the elected/appointed membership ratio)
Tip: The information your school reports to the Member Network is considered the official public record of your school's SIC membership. The information on your 2023-24 Riley Award membership form will be checked against and must match the information that appears on the Member Network as of the date you submit your application. You can check the information that appears on the Member Network for your school via the "View the SIC Members (Read Only)” function on the Member Network, HERE.
Tip: When designating the member type, (i.e., parent, teacher, student, community, principal, or other), type in only the box that matches the capacity in which the individual is serving on the SIC. For example, an individual may be both a parent and a PTA president. If the individual is an SIC member because he/she was elected as a parent representative, they should be listed in only the "Parent" box. If, however, the individual is an SIC member because the bylaws call for the PTA president to be an Ex-Officio member of the SIC, they should be listed in the “Ex-Officio” box.
Tip: The method of selection should match state law requirements. For example, the method of selection for parent, teacher, and student representatives (high school) must be elected; the method of selection for community members must be appointed.
Tip for Elementary and Middle Schools Only: Some elementary and middle schools choose to have student representatives on their SICs even though they are not required to do so by law. Because these student members are voluntary, the Member Network will permit SICs at elementary and middle schools to report the method of selection for these students as either elected or Ex-Officio. If your SIC reported your student members as elected to the Member Network, your Riley Award membership form should show the method of selection as “elected” and you must include students when calculating the ratio of total elected to appointed members. If your SIC reported these students as Ex-Officio to the Member Network, however, you should not include them when calculating your SIC's elected to appointed membership ratio. In either case, you should report such students on your Riley Award membership form in exactly the same way as you reported them to the Member Network and calculate your membership ratio accordingly.
4. Three Letters of Support - 15 Points
Letters of Support must expand and reflect upon the SIC goals, activities, and results described in the Case Statement and should refer specifically to the work of your SIC.
One letter of Support must be from the current Principal for the 2024-25 school year. If your principal is new to the position this year, you may submit a letter that is co-authored and co-signed by the school’s Principal from last year and this year.
Two (2) additional Letters of Support may be written by anyone the SIC chooses, including, but not limited to: a student, parent, community member, business supporter, district staff, or school board member. Authors cannot be members of either the 2023-24 or the current 2024-25 SIC, family members of SIC members, or SIC members of past years.
Each Letter of Support must be signed. (It is not sufficient to type the name of the author - an actual signature is required. Photocopied, scanned, or faxed copies of signatures are acceptable.)
Each Letter of Support is worth five (5) points.
Each letter may not exceed one (1) page and should be addressed to the SC-SIC Awards Committee. Letters should be handwritten or formatted using 10 point or larger Times New Roman or Arial fonts.
Tip: Be sure that your Letters of Support refer specifically to one or more of the SIC accomplishments identified in your Case Statement. Hearing how much someone likes your school or enjoyed the carnival sponsored by the PTA will not earn points from the judges.
Tip: When selecting individuals to write the two (2) additional Letters of Support, remember that the judges are most interested in hearing from individuals who can back up the results reported in your Case Statement, either because they are personally familiar with your work or because they have benefited directly from the results of your work. The fact that an individual holds a prominent position in the school or community is not as important as the level of knowledge that individual can share about your SIC's contributions to your school. The judges will appreciate it if you indicate the role or title as well as the name of the author of each letter (e.g., Jane Doe, Parent; John Smith, Literacy Coach; Ed Jones, Community Member, etc.).
Tip: If the name of an individual writing one of the two (2) additional Letters of Support matches a name on the 2023-24 and/or 2024-25 SIC Membership Lists, the letter will be disqualified, and no points will be awarded for that letter. If the name of the author matches a name on the membership list(s) but they are, in fact, two different people, the letter must provide enough identifying information to establish that fact for the judges.
Tip: It is not necessary that each Letter of Support address the results of every activity described in your Case Statement. Taken together, however, there should be support in at least one Letter for each of the activities/results your SIC is relying on in your application.