In 2003 I was asked to assume the chairmanship of this committee which had previously been chaired by Paula Andrelchick. Activities of the committee appeared to have ceased after Ms. Andrelchick left the area. For 2003 other members of the committee were Ronald D"Amelia, Neil Jespersen, Joseph Landesberg and Joan Laredo-Liddell. Membership in 2004, 2005 and 2006 was identical to that in 2003. As was the case in 2003-5 the committee did not actually meet during 2006. When I assumed the chair of the committee in 2003 we performed one function - the preparation of award certificates for high school students in Manhattan and the Bronx. The reason that the section committee prepares certificates only for Manhattan and the Bronx is that award certificates for other geographical regions of the section are prepared by the respective subsections. In 2004, 2005 and again in 2005 we also prepared certificates for high school students who participated in Chemagination. We received virtually no guidance regarding our responsibilities and it would be useful for the Board of the New York Section to have some discussion as to whether there are other activities which the Awards Committee can and should do.

Prior to 2004 the mailing soliciting nominations was sent by the Section Office. However, in 2004 and 2005 I handled the mailing. In early May we sent letters to approximately 200 high school teachers in Manhattan and the Bronx asking them to nominate students to receive a certificate. This letter was essentially the same letter which was drafted in 2003. Included with the letter was the nomination form . All photocopying of materials was done by me at Adelphi, and the section was not charged. The actual mailing was done by Neil Jespersen. The cost of this mailing is not included in the expenses listed here.

The template for the certificates was essentially the same as that used in 2004. Since a copy of the 2004 certificate was included in the report for that year no copy of this year's certificate is included here.

In response to the mailing to schools a total of 33 certificates were sent to 22 different high schools. This was a somewhat smaller response than in 2005 when 27 schools requested a total of 40 certificates, but better than in 2004 when 19 schools requested certificates. A listing of the schools, students honored, and teachers requesting certificate is on pages 5-6. Listed on page 7 are the 12 schools which had requested certificates in 2005 but did not request them in 2006. Similar year to year lists for previous years are included on page 8.

A sample copy of the cover letter which accompanied the certificates is on page 9. The actual certificates were produced by first printing the AACS arc@ onto the certificate paper and then printing, in a second step, the remainder of the text. Finally, the gummed ACS logo was pasted onto each certificate.

As previously indicated, I also prepared certificates for the 96 (46 in 2005) students from the 11 (3 in 2005) high schools which participated in Chemagination. The names of the student participants are given on page 10. These certificates were presented to the students by Vijaya Korlipara coordinator of Chemagination for the New York Section.

The 2004 report of this committee included sample a sample copy of the Chemagination certificate (without the gummed ACS logo). Since the certificate was essentially the same this year no copy is included here.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
1) While the recognition of outstanding students is something which the section should do, this task does not require a committee; a single person can easily do the work which is currently the responsibility of this committee. I have done so in 2003-2006. The Board of the New York Section should clearly define a larger role for the awards committee or consider abolishing it.

2) The Section might consider whether it is possible or desirable to have a uniform way of recognizing outstanding high school students. At this time there is a considerable disparity in how this is done. For example the Long Island Section Subsection has an awards dinner at which the certificates, in the form of plaques are presented to the students, whereas for Manhattan/Bronx schools the certificates are sent to the teachers who request them. I am not aware of what procedures, if any, are currently used in the other subsections.