Tag Archives: Science Teachers

Teachers who specialized in science.

Science teacher Katie Strait of Maine earns recognition

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Science teacher Katie Strait of Portland, Maine, earns recognition for her work with young people. Photo credit: Maine Department of Education

I am always pleased to share the story of an exceptional teacher who has earned recognition for their work with young people. Today, I share the story of Katie Strait, a high school teacher who was named a 2024 County Teacher of the Year for the county of Cumberland, Maine.

Katie teaches at the Baxter Academy for Technology and Science, a public charter school located in Portland, Maine. The school offers courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for students in grades nine through twelve. Katie teaches courses in biology and marine biology.

Katie was raised in upstate New York. When she graduated from high school, she moved to Maine to attend the University of New England. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology with a concentration in Marine Science. Then she enrolled at the University of New Hampshire where she earned a Master’s degree in Zoology with a focus in Aquaculture. Most of her professional career has been in the science industry – from R&D in a clinical chemistry lab to becoming a manager at Bangs Island Mussels.

Once she earned her degrees, Katie took a job in a clinical chemistry lab and worked for a while as a manager at Bangs Island Mussels. But it was a long-term substitute position at Sanford Middle School that caused her to realize she wanted to pursue a career in education. She taught at Sanford for five years and then, in 2021, she accepted the position at Baxter Academy.

In her classroom, Katie is well-known for her hands-on, real-world teaching style and her focus on relationship-building. She organizes regular field trips for her students to explore the nearby tide pools and marine ecosystems, and often organizes beach clean-ups, and then she asks her students to create art work with what they find during these clean-ups.

TX elementary science teacher Amber Chalmers earns recognition from STAT

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Teacher Amber Chalmers has been named the 2024 Outstanding Elementary Teacher of the Year by the Science Teachers Association of Texas. Photo Credit: Lancaster Independent School District

I am always happy to share the story of a teacher who has earned accolades for their work with young people. Today, I share the story of Amber Chalmers, an elementary school teacher from Lancaster, Texas. She has been named named the 2024 Outstanding Elementary Teacher of the Year by the Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT).

Amber teaches science to fifth graders at Spring Houston Elementary School in Houston, Texas. She has taught there for the past eight years. She believes science is not just a subject, but a way of thinking and exploring the world around us. She encourages her students to think of science beyond just the end-of-year exams and to find creative ways to approach science. When she’s not in the classroom, Amber serves as a mentor to other elementary science teachers within her district.

“Learning science now is vastly different than when I was a student many years ago,” asserts Amber. “I could never get into it as a kid, so now I make it a mission for my students to find joy in science,” she reveals. “They love doing hands-on experiments, but I take it further and engage the students in discussion following each experiment or lab. The discussions are vital because they allow the students to dive deeper into why something happened and then make connections to real-world situations outside of the classroom,” she continues. She says the students absorb the concept even more than they normally would following the discussion because they all bring different perspectives and experiences to the conversation.

Amber earned her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and Teaching from Prairie View A&M in 2005. She earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Texas, Arlington, in 2009.

With her STAT recognition comes an additional honor. Amber has been named one of six state finalists for a prestigious 2024 PAEMST (Presidential Award fir Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

 

Elem educator Lisa Tripp celebrated in Maine’s Love Teaching Week

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Elementary school science teacher Lisa Tripp was honored by the Maine Department of Education during their Love Teaching Week program. Photo Credit: Maine Department of Education

The state of Maine has brought back its Love Teaching Week program through which they celebrate educators who have left a lasting impact on the lives of their students. The program, which takes place around Valentine’s Day every year, is a national campaign started by educators in 2015. One teacher they have honored this year is Lisa Tripp, an elementary school teacher from York County.

Lisa teaches science to sixth graders at Bonny Eagle Middle School in Buxton. “I teach because the future of the world is in my classroom today,” Lisa says. “I get to help connect my students to their community and beyond as they find ways to make it a better place for all,” she continues. “They come up with new ideas and creative and wonderful views on the world that they see around them, and it just fills my heart with so much hope for a beautiful and amazing future,” she adds.

Lisa says she not only appreciates the beauty of her home state, but she uses it to teach lessons to her students.  “We’re given the opportunity to take our students outside and share that joy of nature with them,” Lisa declares. “We have an opportunity to share with them why Maine is such an incredibly diverse beautiful natural wonder.” She has also been involved in an effort to attract more teachers to relocate to Maine and apply for jobs in public schools there.

Lisa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Liberal Arts from the University of Maine. In addition to her recognition during Love Teaching Week, Lisa was named the York County Teacher of the Year in 2023.

Megan Mullen of Nebraska becomes a finalist for a PAEMST award

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Nebraska STEM teacher Megan Mullen has been named one of three finalists in her state for a prestigious PAEMST award (Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching). Photo Credit: Megan Mullen

Congratulations go to Megan Mullen, a STEM teacher from Nebraska. She has been selected one of three teachers in her state to be finalists for a prestigious PAEMST award. The PAEMST (Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is the nation’s highest honor for K–12 science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer science teachers.

The PAEMST honors 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, inventors, space explorers, and engineers. The PAEMST program, founded in 1983, is administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The honor comes with a visit to the White House and a $10,000 cash prize.

Megan teaches in the Paxton Consolidated School District located in Paxton, Nebraska. There she has led her eighth grade STEM class in their exploration of drone construction and flight with new Drone Maker kits. The students experimented with various arm lengths to determine how that affects flight performance. The honored teacher was able to fund the project with a John Russell Applegate Grant.

Previously, with colleague Jordan Cullers, Megan coached fifth graders on the school’s Science Olympiad team. For this effort, Megan earned an Outstanding Coach award in 2017.

Way to go, Megan!

NYC STEM teacher Karen Heil earns 2024 Big Apple Award

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For exemplary work in the classroom, middle school STEM teacher Karen Heil has earned a 2024 Big Apple Award from the New York City Department of Education. Photo Credit: City Island Oyster Reef

The New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) does a commendable job of recognizing their most outstanding public school teachers. This year, they have honored nearly 50 classroom educators who work in New York City. One of these is Karen Heil, a middle school science teacher who has been named a recipient of their 2024 Big Apple Award.

Karen’s career as an educator spans 25 years. She currently teaches at P.S. 175 City Island. There she serves as an advisor with City Island Oyster Reef in their Billion Oyster Project. The program is dedicated to restoring oysters to the local waters, not for consumption but for the significant role that oysters play in improving the marine environment. Each adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons a day, which in turn promotes a healthy, resilient marine ecosystem. With Karen’s leadership and the work conducted in her outdoor classroom, her students have helped to nurture a living shoreline.
The indefatigable teacher believes that every public school should create opportunities for its students to connect with the city’s natural environments. “It is important that all of New York City embrace taking more field trips to get out [near the water], even if you can’t do it like we are [at City Island], to at least give kids perspective that it is such an important part of our history,” asserts Karen.
In another project, Karen asked her students to create illustrated comics featuring a particular mineral as a hero. The students then gave each hero  a superpower based on the rock’s unique properties. Then the middle schoolers dressed up as their chosen mineral and created trading cards featuring the rock and its properties. “The kids loved autographing their trading cards and sharing them with each other,” says Karen. In this way, she believes, she was making learning joyful for her students, and instilling confidence in them as independent learners.

Karen earned a Bachelor’s degree Chemistry and another Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science in 1987, both from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She earned her Master’s degree in Secondary Education and Teaching from Mercy University in 2001.