School districts within Genesee Valley BOCES are dedicated to fostering civic-mindedness within their communities by providing students with a pathway to earning the New York State Seal of Civic Readiness. The purpose of the Civi Awards is to honor students/districts in our region who exhibit exceptional civic-minded qualities, take meaningful actions, and effect positive change within their communities and beyond.

Our local Civic Awards celebrate students who demonstrate exceptional civic responsibility and engagement, named in honor of local figures, past and present, who embody the values these awards represent. Each award recognizes student contributions in areas such as serving the community, promoting civic engagement, and addressing critical societal issues. By drawing inspiration from the legacy of these distinguished individuals, the awards encourage students to take informed action that enhances democracy and strengthens the bonds of their communities.
Genesee Valley BOCES is proud to offer the following awards:
Olie Olson & Clara Barton Award: Serving Those Who Serve
Recognizes the student that informed and took action to assist and enhance the lives or work of those in the community who serve or have served others. Examples include veterans, first responders, law enforcement, fire departments, and more. This student’s work exemplified a dedication to identify those in their community whose purpose is to assist others, and to augment their work to benefit their community as a whole.
Belva Ann Lockwood Award: Civic Mindset & Engagement
Recognizes the student who developed an exemplary ‘civic mindset’ during their Seal work, and raised awareness in their community to enhance the ‘civic mindsets’ of others. The student identified a local, state, or national issue and immersed themselves in acquiring knowledge about the issue, but also effectively communicated this to the larger community. Their work also enhanced the civic engagement of others in their school or community.
Seth M. Gates Award: Local Government
Recognizes the student that took informed action in their local community or county to solve a political, societal, or economic issue that the community faced. Their work involved a partnership with either local or county government to solve their identified issue. The student’s work exemplified the pillars of civic readiness and served as a model for their fellow students and citizens.
Arthur C. Parker & William P. Letchworth Award: Environmental/Conservation/Agricultural
Recognizes the student who identified an issue pertaining to environmental or agricultural issues and took informed action to affect change in their community, state, or even a national issue. The student took action to help raise awareness or create a sustainable change that enhanced conservation or agricultural foundations in their sphere.
Lulu Westbrook Griffin & Frances Willard Award: Individual Rights/Equality/Social Justice
Recognizes the student who identified a significant political, economic, and/or societal issue affecting citizens in their community, state, or nation as a whole. The student took informed action to raise awareness about the issue, but also encouraged other citizens to take their own action in relation to the issue identified.
Nomination Process & Form
Educators and administrators within the Genesee Valley BOCES Region who offer the Seal of Civic Readiness, are able to submit nominations for students that display exemplary work within their Seal programs.
Who’s eligible?
Students grades 7-12 who are working toward, or have recently been awarded the Seal are eligible for nomination. Award winners will be selected by a committee of educators and community stakeholders.
This year once students are nominated they will receive a link to submit a brief video interview. This brief interview will take approximately five to ten minutes and ask students to respond to the following prompts:
- Briefly tell us about your civic project and why it is important to you:
- How did you become informed about your topic? What type of research did you engage in?
- How did you take action to create change?
- What impact did your work have? However, we know sometimes civic work is a long process, and immediate results are not evident. If no impact was evident, why do you think that is? Would you take any next steps?
Important Dates
Nominations Opens: 04/29/2025
Nominations Closes: 06/02/2025
Committee Meeting to Review Nominations: 06/03//2025
Winner Announcement Date: 06/05/2025
Committee Members
- Nick D’Amuro: Coordinator of Instruction
- Steve Nole: Coordinator of Enrichment
- Julie Judge: Enrichment Specialist
- Stephanie Burns: Director of School Improvement
- James Bonacquisti: Village of LeRoy Board Trustee
- Angela Grouse: Director of Education to Employment Initiatives, L.C. Chamber of Commerce
- Karyn Winters: Director of Genesee County Business & Education Alliance
- Sheila Eigenbrod: Retired Pavilion HS Principal & Facilitator of Agricultural Cohorts
- Holly C. Watson: Livingston County Historian