Know a parent who deserves statewide recognition for his or her work to improve public education? Nominate him or her today!

The Maryland State Department of Education is currently accepting nominations for the Seventh Annual Maryland Parent Involvement Matters Award (PIMA) Program. The Maryland PIMA is an annual award for parents (and others with legal responsibility for a child) whose exemplary contributions to public education have led to improvements for Maryland's public school children, teachers, schools, programs, and/or policies.

The award was created by the Maryland State Department of Education to highlight the positive impact parents have on public schools and to encourage all parents to get involved in whatever way they can. An eligible nominee is a parent or person with legal responsibility for a child in a Maryland public school who has significantly impacted public education within the last 24 months with his or her involvement in the area(s) of communication; volunteering; learning; collaborating with community; or decision making.

To learn more about the program and how previous winners were involved, and to download an application, go to www.MarylandPublicSchools.org/pima . Completed applications must be postmarked by January 31, 2014.