Team of the Year

Team of the Year

The Team of the Year award is the most distinguished honor the Ohio Middle Level Association can bestow upon an interdisciplinary team of middle level teachers to recognize its accomplishments with students and contributions to middle level education. A monetary award of $1,000.00 will be presented to the team to use in any way it chooses.


The Team of the Year is awarded at our annual conference each year.  All applications are submitted online.

2025 Team of the Year Application

  • Nomination Criteria

    • The nominator must be a current member of the Ohio Middle Level Association
    • All OMLA members are eligible to nominate a candidate.
    • Nominated team members must be OMLA members (individual or part of a building membership).
    • Previous recipients may not be nominated. An interdiciplinary team may not receive the awards more than once.
    • There is no limit to the number of times a team may be nominated (with the exception of a team receiving the award).

  • Application Criteria

    • Nominated teaching team's goals, procedures, and accomplishments myst promote the middle school concept and align with research-based best practices that are academically rigorous and developmentally responsive to the needs of young adolescents.

    Criteria to include, but not limited to, how the team has done the following:

    • Advancement of Middle Level Philosophy in the School and Community.
    • Team Building, Identity and Cohesion.
    • Integrated / Interdisciplinary Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
    • Demonstrating Flexible use of Time.
    • Culture and Community.
    • The school organization supports interdisciplinary teaming.
    • The nomination must be received by the posted deadline.

  • Scoring Rubric

    • Here is a link to the Scoring Rubric for the OMLA Team of the Year:  View Rubric

  • Awarding the Honor

    • A Ohio Middle Level Association Team of teh Year Committee will review all nominations. 
    • If multiple teams meet the selection criteria on paper, the two or three highest rated will be visited. The higest rated team after visitations will receive the recognition.
    • The selected Team of the Year will be recognized at  the OMLA Annual State Conference.
    • If no teams meet the selection criteria, the award will not be given.

Team of the Year Nomination

Team of the Year Nomination

Nominator Information: 

Narrative

The nomination must address the areas listed below. The Scoring Rubric will be used when reviewing Team of the Year Nominations. Be specific in identifying the reasons for the nomination, including (but not limited to) an explanation of how the team has:

  • Advancement of Middle Level Philosophy in the School and Community.
  • Team Building, Identity and Cohesion.
  • Integrated / Interdisciplinary Curriculum Planning and Instruction that Increases Student Achievement / Growth.
  • Demonstrating Flexible use of Time.
  • Culture and Community.