East Panhandle News

NCAA Division II announced its 22 finalists for the 2023 Division II Award of Excellence, an accolade recognizing initiatives in the past year that exemplify the Division II philosophy, community engagement and student-athlete leadership. Nova Southeastern was chosen as a finalist after nominating the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee pen pal program with a local elementary school.  

The purpose NSU SAAC Pen Pal Program is to build a sense of unity between the Nova Southeastern student-athletes and the elementary students, and the purpose of the Pen Pal program is to write letters back-and-forth each month to help the elementary students enhance their literacy skills. The elementary school we partnered with is categorized under the Florida Department of Education as Title I meaning low-income families make up at least 40 percent of the enrollment. Title I is the largest federal program supporting elementary and secondary education and is entirely funded by the federal government under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Title I provides additional resources to schools with economically disadvantaged students in order to raise their ability to succeed. 

Through SAAC's leadership, 75 student-athletes have committed to serving as leaders and giving back to the community by participating in the Pen Pal Program. This is the first full academic year of impact, and the level of involvement and engagement has tremendously increased. The Pen Pal Program continues to impact the local community by allowing elementary school students to practice their written literacy skills while also building a sense of unity. 

A committee of athletics administrators determined this year's finalists, and the national Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee selected the top three finalists, who will be announced at the Division II business session Jan. 14 at the 2023 NCAA Convention in San Antonio. 

Each finalist will receive $500. In addition, the winner will receive $2,500, the first runner-up will receive $1,250 and the second runner-up will receive $1,000. All prize money is intended to be used for future SAAC initiatives or community engagement events. 

Original source can be found here.