Awards

The Ruth Jenkins Award and the John D. Verdery Award are the National Association of Episcopal Schools’ highest honors and recognize and celebrate the outstanding service of individuals to Episcopal schools and the Association. The awards are bestowed at the discretion and by vote of the NAES Governing Board and are presented during ceremonies at the Association’s Biennial Conference.

Ruth Jenkins Award

The Ruth Jenkins Award is named in honor of a co-founder of NAES who was head of school at Annie Wright School in Tacoma, Washington, and the Bishop’s School in La Jolla, California. An advocate for women’s leadership in the Episcopal Church, Dr. Jenkins was elected in 1949 as one of four women deputies to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church; attending the Convention, all were refused their seats. This incident opened the way to her participation in the national Joint Commission to Consider the Problems of Giving the Women of the Church a Voice in the Legislation of the General Convention (1951) and in subsequent General Conventions of the Episcopal Church.

Recipients

2008 – Gloria H. Snyder
2006 – Serena E. Beeks, Laurie B. Hogen
2004 – The Rev. George E. Andrews II
2002 – Ann Gordon
2000 – The Rev. John E. Merchant, The Rev. William S. Wade
1998 – Lucy C. Nazro
1996 – The Rev. John Paul Carter
1993 – The Rev. Canon David R. Forbes, Ruth Jenkins

John D. Verdery Award

The John D. Verdery Award is named in honor of the long-term headmaster (1942–1976) of Wooster School in Danbury, Connecticut. A co-founder of NAES, Mr. Verdery, an Episcopal priest, was an articulate advocate for the value of Episcopal education and the religious identity of our schools. His most important essay on this topic was “Why Church Schools.” A president of the NAES Governing Board, he was instrumental in nurturing NAES as an organization through his hands-on leadership at critical points during the Association’s early years.

Recipients

2008 – The Rev. Canon Thomas G. Clarke
2006 – The Rev. Daniel R. Heischman
2004 – The Rev. Deacon Frances C. Kay, Karen O. Strimple, Donn D. Wright
2002 – Russell W. Ingersoll, Connie R. Wootton
2000 – Robert D. Klarsch, Joyce D. Jurik, Jody Parsons-Prichard, The Rev. Canon William P. Scheel, Isabelle Schuessler, The Rev. Canon Ernest D. Sillers, The Rev. Brinton W. Woodward, Jr.