Tag Archives: Elementary Teachers

STEM teacher Utah’s Jennifer Carver-Hunter advances space exploration education

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STEM teacher Jennifer Carver-Hunter from Salt Lake City, Utah, garnered a coveted PAEMST award for her innovative work in space exploration education. Photo Credit: Mountain View elementary School

It is always a pleasure to share stories about exceptional educations. One of these is Jennifer Carver-Hunter, an elementary school teacher from Salt Lake City, Utah. For her work in space exploration education, she has earned a coveted PAEMST award.

Jennifer teaches fifth grade Science and Language Arts at Mountain View Elementary School in Salt Lake City. In a career that spans 22 years, she’s been at Mountain View for 11 of those years. Prior to her work in Utah, Jennifer taught oral and written language comprehension and communication skills to multi-language learners at Johnson and Northside Elementary Schools in Montrose, Colorado.

Jennifer earned her PAEMST for. her work in space exploration STEN education. She believes in leading her students by example, and she works hard to share the message that learning is a lifelong endeavor. She is passionate about inspiring her students to feed their curiosity by wondering and asking questions, because these practices are critical in developing problem-solving and collaboration skills.

Jennifer herself is a lifelong learner. She  is a member of the Teacher Innovator Institute sponsored by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and she is the master teacher and crew commander for the Spaceward Bound Utah program with the Mars Desert Research Station. Through these two programs, Jennifer promotes student interest in scientific exploration beyond Earth. Her young students spend their fifth grade year immersed in various simulations of life on Mars. Through student-designed investigations and hands-on engineering design projects, Jennifer’s students not only stay engaged in the content, but they also start to view themselves as the future scientists who might help send astronauts to Mars.

For this innovative work, in 2022, Jennifer was named one of five finalists for Utah State Teacher of the Year. She also earned a coveted PAEMST (Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching) in 2020. You can read more about this at PAEMST.

Jennifer earned her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Bryn Mawr College and her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Adams State College. She is certified in Building Excellence in Elementary STEM from the University of Utah and an endorsement in Linguistically Diverse Education from Fort Lewis College.

GA teacher Natasha Berry recognized as outstanding educator

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Elementary school teacher Natasha Berry has been recognized for her outstanding work in the classroom. Photo Credit: Valdosta Daily Times

It is always a pleasure to share the story of an outstanding teacher working in public schools. One of these is Natasha Berry, an exceptional STEM teacher from the state of Georgia.

Natasha inaugurated her career as a professional educator in 2003 after earning her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Valdosta State University. She also earned certification in Gifted and Talented Education. She currently works as a STEM Lab teacher for Henry County Schools in Henry County, Georgia. Prior to that, she taught third graders at Sallas Mahone Elementary School in the Valdosta City School District, and before that, she taught in the Lowndes County system for 14 years. In all, her career as an educator spans 20 years.

The daughter of a military veteran, Natasha was forced to relocate several times as a child, but she spent most of her life in Valdosta. Despite her moves, Natasha had strong support for education in her childhood home. “I come from a family of educators. My mother and many of my aunts and uncles are in the education profession,” she reveals. “I grew up watching and admiring the countless hours my mom spent using her creative talent to make learning exciting and engaging for the students inside her classroom every single day.”

For her work in the classroom, Natasha garnered a 2023 Gale Samuels Award from the Georgia Teachers of the Year Association.  The honor is bestowed in memory of Gale Samuels, a beloved educator at the Georgia Department of Education who contracted leukemia and passed away in 1998. Samuels was considered instrumental in promoting excellence in teaching in her state.

The Gale Samuels Award is not the only recognition Natasha has earned. In 2022, she was named a finalist for Georgia Teacher of the Year. In 2019, she was honored as the Sallas Mahone Teacher of the Year, and that same year this Chalkboard Champion was named the Valdosta City Schools Co-Teacher of the Year.

IN teacher Brittany Tinkler garners prestigious 2022-2023 Milken Award

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Elementary school teacher Brittany Tinkler of Indianapolis, Indiana, has garnered a prestigious 2022-2023 Milken Educator Award. Photo Credit: Brittany Tinkler

There are many exceptional teachers working in American schools who are deserving of recognition. One of these is Brittany Tinkler, an elementary school teacher from Indianapolis, Indiana. She has garnered a prestigious 2022-2023 Milken Educator Award, she learned on Feb. 8, 2023.

Brittany teaches second grade at Rosa Parks Elementary School in Perry Township. She has taught there for 11 years. In her classroom, Brittany has embraced project-based learning, and she shares the practice with fellow educators through presentations, articles, and podcasts. Furthermore, Brittany enjoys exposing her students to different careers. To that end, she has brought a variety of community organizations into the school, including the local zoo, a radio station, and a fire station. In addition, she has launched a robotics club and founded  an after-school running club.

Brittany, who graduated from Perry-Meridian High School, says her own academic struggles as a child led her to pursue a career in education. “When I got into high school after all of this struggling, I officially decided I was going to become an educator so that I can help students feel successful and find what it is they’re good at, so I can bring that out of them at a young age,” she declared.

The honored educator earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 2012 from Indiana University and her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instructional Leadership in 2018 from Indiana Wesleyan University.

Brittany is one of 40 educators nationwide who has earned a Milken Educator Award this year. The honors have been described by Teacher Magazine as the “Oscars of Teaching.” In addition to a $25,000 cash prize and public recognition, the recognition includes membership in the National Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 3,000 exemplary teachers, principals, and specialists from all over the country who work towards strengthening best practices in education. To learn more, click on Milken Educator Awards.

Montana teacher Shianne Schmidt garners coveted 2020 PAEMST

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Elementary school teacher Shianne Schmidt from Whitefish, Montana, has garnered a coveted 2020 PAEMST. Photo Credit: Whitefish Pilot

There are many talented educators who have earned recognition for their outstanding work in the classroom. One of these is Shianne Schmidt, an elementary school teacher from Whitefish, Montana. She has garnered a coveted PAEMST in 2020.

In a career that has spanned 11 years, Shianne has spent the last six of them teaching third and fourth graders at Olney Bissell School in Whitefish. She previously taught a combination of third and fourth graders at Reed Point Elementary School in Reed Point, Montana. She inaugurated her career as a teacher at Koliganek Public School in Dilliingham, Alaska.

Shianne teaches all subject areas in her classroom, but mathematics is her favorite subject and her area of special expertise. But this expertise took time and effort to develop. She says math wasn’t always an area of strength for her, and she could tell it was a subject that many of her young students struggled with. When she noticed that many of her students expressed frustration with math, or when they made comments such as, “I’ll never be good at math,” she knew she had to find a way to turn the negative into a positive. “I said, we’ve got to change that,” Shianne recalls. “That’s got to change. What can I do to help these kids learn better?” To accomplish this, the honored educator worked diligently to become an expert herself. “I started re-teaching math to myself so that it made sense to me and so it made sense to students,” she explained. “I learned in that journey there was not just one way to get the answer or solution.” And along the way, she learned to love the subject.

Shianne expresses her love of math by developing engaging activities that motivate her students. She excites children in mathematical learning with classroom transformations and project-based learning tasks. Some of the students’ favorites have been creating their own food truck, rollercoaster mathematics, and a cross-curricular unit that studies Alaska’s famous Iditarod race.

The PAEMST, Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, is an honor that recognizes the dedication, hard work, and importance that America’s teachers play in supporting learners who will become future STEM professionals, including computer technologists, climate scientists, mathematicians, innovators, space explorers, and engineers. The PAEMST program, founded in 1983, is administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The honor comes with a $10,000 cash prize.

NYC teacher Shara Breit earns a 2023 Big Apple Award

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New York City elementary school teacher Shara Breit has been recognized as an exceptional educator with a 2023 Big Apple Award. Photo Credit: New York City Department of Education

New York City is very proud of their public school teachers. In fact, city educational leaders regularly recognize exceptional teachers with their annual Big Apple Award. In 2023, one of these educators was Shara Breit, an elementary school teacher from Staten Island.

Shara teaches fourth grade at Public School 11, also known as Thomas Dongan School. Her professional philosophy is that every student in her classroom should have “voice and choice.” Upon entering her classroom, students and alike immediately feel they are immersed in a relaxed atmosphere and culture that invites all students to succeed. Shara makes sure that her youngsters are provided with enrichment opportunities and projects that have been created in collaboration with her students. Some of these have even gone schoolwide.

Shara says she understands that keeping her students at the center of the instructional program means engaging their families in their education, too. She regularly invites families to lessons she calls “Parents as Learning Partners.” These lessons are interactive. During the pandemic, the lessons were provided virtually, and once the school returned to in-person instruction, many parents requested their children remain remote with Shara, because they simply did not want to leave the popular teacher’s online platform.

In addition to her responsibilities as a classroom teacher, Shara serves as a Grade Team Leader, a social and emotional learning (SEL) coordinator, and a data specialist. In her role as the data specialist, she facilitates grade-level and school-level (horizontal and vertical) Inquiry/Impact Team work to decide upon the best instructional practices to promote the highest levels of student achievement at all grade levels.

The Big Apple Award was presented to 20 New York City teachers. Each one was nominated by their principal for work in the profession that inspires students, models great teaching, and enriches school communities. The recipients were chosen through a rigorous selection process that includes community nominations, principal recommendations, classroom visits, an interview, and a review by a board of judges. To learn more about the program and this year’s recipients, click on this link to Big Apple Awards.