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Dolores Huerta Education Awards Program
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Back to topCelebrating Dolores Huerta and her Legacy
Visual Arts Project Criteria
Award Program Description
The Dolores Huerta Education Awards Program will provide recognition for educators and their students who demonstrate an understanding of the vision and guiding principles embraced by Dolores Huerta. The Awards Program honors these great leaders and ensures that the spirit of their work continues in the classrooms of California.
Award Criteria for Visual Arts
Participants must show evidence of how one or more of the below principles are evident in their lives.
- Principles of nonviolence
- Self-determination through unionization (forming and joining unions)
- Social justice for farmworkers
- Safe food/health/environmental issues
- Human and civil rights issues
- Teamwork, cooperation, collaboration and/or service to others
- Empowerment of the disenfranchised
- Innovation and education
Eligibility for Visual Arts
- The individual student must be enrolled at and attend the same school or campus as the sponsoring CTA member.
- Grade levels include:
- Pre-K, Transitional Kindergarten – K (artwork only)
- First – Second grade
- Third – Fourth grade
- Fifth – Sixth grade
- Seventh – Eighth grade
- Ninth – Twelfth grade
- Higher Education (Undergraduates only)
- We encourage applications from all students including Special Ed, Alternative Ed, ELL, etc.
- Submissions that do not meet the criteria will be ineligible.
Format of Visual Art
- Two-dimensional ONLY
- Sizes can range from 8 ½” x 11” to 18” x 24”
- Provide student’s typed or written explanation, not to exceed 200 words, as to how the artwork addresses one or more of the above principles. Pre-K, Transitional Kindergarten through second grade students may have their responses transcribed.
- Ensure correct grammar and spelling for the explanation
Forms of Visual Art
- Mixed media accepted
- Drawings in pencil, pastel, ink, chalk and/or charcoal (For entries using chalk, artwork must be received with sealant in order to preserve the piece.)
- Paintings in watercolor, oil, tempera, acrylic and/or airbrush
- Posters in block or silk screen printings
- Collages
- Digital Art/Original computer-generated art (Must provide what program was used to make digital art)
Please note the following:
- Artwork must be clearly labeled on the back with the applicant’s name, grade, school and sponsoring CTA member’s name.
Standards Definition
Mixed media is a work of art which more than one type of art material is used to create the finished piece.
Collage is an artistic composition made of various materials (i.e., paper, cloth, wood) and glued on a surface.
Additional Information
- Application forms will be available soon
- Any submission can be reproduced for promotion purposes.
Each entry must be submitted with a separate application and must be received by Friday, March 6, 2026.
Send entries to:
CTA Human Rights Department
Dolores Huerta Education Awards Program
PO Box 921
Burlingame, CA 94011-0921
Attn: Janeya Dawson
Written Essay Project Criteria
Award Program Description
The Dolores Huerta Education Awards Program will provide recognition for educators and their students who demonstrate an understanding of the vision and guiding principles embraced by Dolores Huerta. The Awards Program honors these great leaders and ensures that the spirit of their work continues in the classrooms of California.
Award Criteria for Written Essays
Participants must show evidence of how one or more of the below principles are evident in their lives.
- Principles of nonviolence
- Self-determination through unionization (forming and joining unions)
- Social justice for farmworkers
- Safe food/health/environmental issues
- Human and civil rights issues
- Teamwork, cooperation, collaboration, and/or service to others
- Empowerment of the disenfranchised
- Innovation and education
Eligibility for Written Essays
- The individual student must be enrolled at and attend the same school or campus as the sponsoring CTA member.
- Grade levels include:
- First – Second grade
- Third – Fourth grade
- Fifth – Sixth grade
- Seventh – Eighth grade
- Ninth – Twelfth grade
- Higher Education (Undergraduates only)
- We encourage applications from all students including Special Ed, Alternative Ed, ELL, etc.
- Submissions that do not meet the criteria will be ineligible.
- NO BIOGRAPHIES!
Length of Essay
- Grades 1 – 2 | Age-appropriate composition
- Grades 3 – 4 | 200 – 300 words
- Grades 5 – 8 | 400 – 600 words
- Grades 9 – 12 | 800 – 1100 words
- Higher Education | 1000 – 1500 words (Undergraduates only)
Please note the following:
- Print and submit word count verification
- Provide an English translation of an essay if original piece is written in another language
- Grades 10th – Higher Education entries must cite resources, footnotes or a bibliography
NOTE:
This written essay should NOT BE A BIOGRAPHY of Dolores Huerta.
Format of Essay
- Double-spaced with 1” margins
- Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt.
- Pages numbered
- Grades 1 – 2 must be legibly written or typed
- Grades 3 – Higher Education must be typed; otherwise, a letter explaining circumstances must be included by the sponsoring CTA member
- Staple pages, DO NOT place into folder or binder
- American Psychological Association (APA) or Modern Language Association (MLA) Format
Additional Information:
- Application forms will be available soon
- Any submission can be reproduced for promotion purposes.
Each entry must be submitted with a separate application and must be received by Friday, March 6, 2026.
Send entries to:
CTA Human Rights Department
Dolores Huerta Education Awards Program
PO Box 921
Burlingame, CA 94011-0921
Attn: Janeya Dawson
Building the Future: Donations
Sustaining finances for the Fund come from voluntary contributions and the CTA Foundation for Teaching and Learning.
Send Donations To:
California Teachers Association
Dolores Huerta Education Awards Program
PO Box 921
Burlingame, CA 94011-0921
Make Checks Payable To:
CTA FOUNDATION
(In check memo line indicate Dolores Huerta Education Awards Program)