Encore: Work that matters in the second half of life.

Nearly 10 years ago, Richard and Michele Steckel decided they couldn't sit by and just watch as people all over the world experienced the mayhem of ethnic cleansing, race riots and hatred.

To bridge divides, they sought to chronicle in photographs the humanity shared by all people - a project that led to a traveling exhibit they named "The Milestones Project."

The Steckels, 2007 Purpose Prize fellows, have now been honored by the National Education Association with its "Author-Illustrator Human and Civil Rights Award."

"The fact is our children must know how to operate, cooperate and excel in a diverse and global 21st century world," said NEA President Reg Weaver. "By highlighting the ties that bind, and should unite us, Richard and Michele Steckel are educators in every sense of the word-and defenders of human and civil rights."

The path to such social impact wasn't easy. The Steckels took out a second mortgage on their home, borrowed to the limits on their credit cards, learned about photography, and sought friends around the world to help them to make their dream a reality.

Then they set out to capture on film moments that are grounded in common human experience -- losing the first tooth, making the first friend, going to school for the first time, getting the first haircut.

They amassed tens of thousands of photographs, then collected the best ones into a book and an exhibit. Since its unveiling in 2003, the Milestone Project has mounted exhibits internationally in eleven airports, museums, restaurants, colleges, schools, libraries, government offices, city halls, conferences, at the United Nations, and on the web. Over 118 million people have been exposed to the photos and the message.

The NEA award is presented "to those whose graphic and literary creations help students understand the significance of human and civil rights in everyday life." The Steckels received the award July 2 at NEA's 42nd annual Human and Civil Rights Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C.