Congratulations to STEM educator Dr. Caryn Long of Florida. She has been inducted into the 2023 National Teachers Hall of Fame. Photo Credit: National Teacher Hall of Fame
Hearty congratulations are due to STEM educator Dr. Caryn Long of Clermont, Florida. She has been inducted into the 2023 Class of the National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF).
Caryn serves as a Specialist in Educational Technology Innovation and STEM integration at Montverde Academy in Clermont, Florida. Previously, she taught STEM subjects in public elementary schools in Charlotte, North Carolina, and STEM for all grade levels at NASA. Her career as an educator spans 34 years.
The honored educator says in her classroom she strives to achieve two goals: Students should love learning more than they did in previous years, and they should improve their overall attitude about learning. “I’ve often described my classroom as controlled chaos,” declares Caryn. “We dance to music allowing the kids ways to transfer complex science knowledge into long-term memory. They lean over tables and answer various levels of questions that scaffold on previous understanding,” she continues. “Providing diverse role models in the science fields is a crucial part of my kids’ education. Throughout the year, they speak to experts from NASA, NOAA, Boeing, and other agencies/businesses that can bring real world connections to the concepts they are developing,” she describes.
Caryn’s selection by the NTHF is not the only recognition she has earned. In 2021, she was named Montverde Academy Middle School Teacher of the Year. In 2019, she became a Space Educator Ambassador for the National Space Foundation, and the same year she was selected Florida’s Air Force Association STEM Teacher of the Year. In 2002, Caryn was honored as the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator, and in 2001, she was named the Distinguished Teacher of the Year by the NSTA. In 2000, she was named a Eleanor Roosevelt Teacher Fellow.
Caryn earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Queens University of Charlotte in 1988. She earned her Master’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of North Carolina in 1990. She completed the requirements for her PhD in Educational/Instructional Technology from Oklahoma State University in 2015.
The National Teachers Hall of Fame was founded in Emporia, Kansas, in 1989. Since the inaugural induction ceremonies in 1992, 150 educators from 41 states and the District of Columbia have been inducted. To learn more, click on this link to the NTHF.
