Honoring Science and Math Teachers
Later this year, the White House will honor the 103 science and math teachers selected as this year’s recipients of the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. President Barack Obama recently announced the names of this year’s winners. While in Washington for the awards ceremony, the winners will also meet with members of Congress and science agencies officials. Moreover, each teacher will pocket a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation. In releasing the names, Obama said that the scientists and engineers who have helped to make America great all shared one thing: “science and math teachers who brought these critical subjects to life.”
What kind of teachers win? A Miami Herald profile of one winner offers a glimpse of what it takes. Allan Phipps teaches environmental science at Miami’s South Plantation High School, and he’s known for using plenty of fun and wacky examples in his classroom — like slicing into a cake to show the effects of coal-mine excavations. He also oversees the school’s extracurricular solar-car team, the Solar Knights, which also has a winning record. Accordingly, Phipps is no stranger to teaching awards. Indeed, he is the 2011 Broward County Teacher of the Year. Still, he found winning the presidential prize a bit mind-boggling. “It’s like winning the Oscar for best actor. It’s as far as you can go.”
Filed under: K-12 Education News
