SCHAUMBURG, Ill. -- The Actuarial Foundation has received a Summit Award, the top honor given by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Washington, D.C., as part of its national campaign, "Associations Advance America." The Foundation was one of nine winners selected from 243 entries to receive the Summit Award -- which honors associations that propel America forward with innovative projects in education, skills training, standards-setting, business and social innovation, knowledge creation, citizenship and community service -- for its math tutoring and mentoring program for elementary school children, "Advancing Student Achievement."
This innovative program makes use of the unique skills of actuaries, professionals trained in mathematics, statistics, economics and other disciplines, by recruiting them to serve as mentors and tutors to children in grades K- 5. Advancing Student Achievement also provides grants to schools seeking to develop such tutoring and mentoring plans. The program does not prescribe teaching materials or methods but works to support the existing curricula of the individual schools. The only hard and fast requirement set by the Foundation is that actuaries be involved in teaching, tutoring or mentoring the children and/or in developing the programs used.
"This program truly embodies the spirit of the Associations Advance America campaign. It is an honor and an inspiration to showcase your activities . . . as examples of the many contributions associations are doing to advance society," said Michael S. Olson, CAE, president and CEO of the ASAE.
"The Actuarial Foundation thanks the ASAE for this honor and is privileged to be in such outstanding company with the other eight Summit Award winners," said Actuarial Foundation Chair Cecil Bykerk. "This kind of recognition is a great help to us in letting schools and communities know about our program, and equally important, how they can start their own similar types of tutoring and mentoring activities."
The ASAE is producing a video featuring the award winning programs, which were selected from over 243 entries nationwide. Other 1999 Summit honorees are: the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Waterways Operators, the Building Industry Association of Southern California, the Career Training Foundation, the Florida Fire Chiefs' Association, the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation, the Jewish Council for the Aging, and the National Exchange Club Foundation for the Prevention of Child Abuse.
The four-year-old Advancing Student Achievement program is being used by schools in seven U.S. cities and in rural Alberta, Canada. Its newest project is in partnership with Junior Achievement. Actuaries will help build the economics curriculum in Junior Achievement's "virtual high school." Ultimately, this innovative educational program will allow people who cannot attend school physically, or who have quit school and wish to earn their diplomas, to finish their high school requirements online.
Joseph Abel, Ph.D., Director of Development and Marketing of the Foundation, accepted the Summit Award at a gala ceremony in San Diego, August 21 at the annual meeting of the ASAE. The Actuarial Foundation was established in 1994 with a mission to contribute to the understanding and resolution of present and future social and economic problems by investing in research, communication, and education.