Tag Archives: Science Teachers

Teachers who specialized in science.

Joseph Murillo: CA teacher and consummate athletic coach

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Chino High School teacher Joseph Murillo was also a consummate athletic coach. Photo credit: Chino Champion

Many fine educators also make superlative athletic coaches. One of these was Joseph Murillo, a science teacher and basketball coach from Chino, California.

Joseph was born on Sept. 18, 1945, in the town of El Refugio in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico. When he was only ten years old, he came to the United States with his family and the group settled in Chino, California. He attended public schools and graduated from Chino High School in 1965.

“As a young man, Joe showed preternatural skill for virtually any game that requires hand-eye coordination,” reads the educator’s obituary, “but he particularly excelled at basketball. A lank point guard who sometimes jumped center, Joe’s team’s home games often drew large crowds and are the stuff of legend.” In 1963 and 1964, Joseph led his team to two Tri-County League Championships and a CIF playoff. In his honor, the Chino High School gymnasium floor was dedicated to both Joseph and his high school basketball coach, Frank Elder.

After graduating from high school, Joseph attended first Mt. San Antonio College and then California Polytechnic University, Pomona, where he continued to play basketball. During the summers, he organized recreational programs for children at Richard Gird Elementary School in Chino. He also worked maintaining the Little League baseball fields in the town. He completed the requirements for his Bachelor’s degree in 1972.

In 1974, Joseph inaugurated his career teaching biology to English language learners at his alma mater, Chino High. For many years, he also instructed driver’s training courses. In addition, he coached both boys’ and girls’ basketball. He led the girls’ team to 17 league championships during his nearly 30-year career as Head Coach. He also coached them to CIF Championships in 1981, 1986, and 1988.

For his work as an athletic coach, Joseph earned many accolades. In 2010, he was inducted into the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Chino Valley Unified School District Richard Gird Hall of Fame in 2015, and the CIF-Southern Section Hall of Fame in 2022.

Sadly, Joseph Murillo, consummate educator and coach, passed away on December 18, 2023.

Connecticut teacher Kristen Record inducted into the NTHF

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Dr. Kristen Record of Stratford, Connecticut, has been inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. Photo credit: Kristen Record

Hearty congratulations are due to educator Dr. Kristen Record of Stratford, Connecticut. She has been inducted into the 2023 Class of the National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF).

The honored educator teaches Honors Physics to juniors and seniors at Bunnell High School in Stratford. She also serves as the Senior Class Advisor. She also participates on her District’s Teacher Education and Mentoring Team. Further, she is active ion her local teachers’ union, service as the Secondary Vice President and the Chairperson of the Contract Negotiations team. Her career as an educator spans 23 years, all of them in Stratford Public Schools.

She was just a little girl when Kristen’s passion for teaching started. “When she was four years old, she would line up her stuffed animals like they were in a classroom, and she would teach them,” recalls Daniel Record, Kristen’s father, who was also a physics teacher. Her mother, Carolyn, and her brother and sister-in-law are also teachers.

Kristen’s advice for a beginning teacher? “Observe. Visit as many classrooms as possible. Observe what to emulate and what to avoid,” Kristen advises. “Great students at the door. Observe the energy they bring, and learn what’s going on beyond academics,” Kristen continues. And one more thing: take time to recreate, she advises. “Vacations are vacations. Observe them as such so you can recharge and be your best self at school,” she concludes.

Her induction into the NTHF is not the only recognition Kristen has earned. In 2022 she was involved in the 100K in 10 Teacher Forum. The Nation Education Association Foundation honored her with their California Casualty Award for Teacher Excellence in 2020. She earned a Global Learning Fellowship in 2015, and she became a Fellow of the National STEM Policy Institution at MIT/George Washington University. In 2011, she was named Connecticut’s State teacher of the Year. In 2009, she garnered a Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

Kristen earned her Bachelor’s degree in Science Instruction and Study from Southern Connecticut State University in 2006. She earned her Master’s degree in Teaching and Learning from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2000.

To learn more about Dr. Kristen Record, click on this link to the NTHF.

NJ STEM teacher Christine Girtain named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year

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STEM educator Christine Girtain has been named the 2023 New Jersey State Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: New Jersey Education Association

I am always excited to share the story of an exceptional educator who has earned accolades for their work in the classroom. One of these is Christine Girtain, an accomplished science teacher from Toms River, New Jersey.

Christine teaches STEM courses at Toms River High School North and Toms River High School South in Toms River. In fact, she is the Director of a three-year authentic science research course for high school students in grades 10 through 12. As the program’s director, Christine guides her students in projects covering such topics as the effects of fruit seed extracts on bacteria, bio-engineering E. coli , and studies on bees. “Through this program, our students and teachers will be doing amazing cutting-edge work, and potentially fundraising for our schools at the same time,” declares Christine.

This honored educator believes in offering opportunities for her students to expand their horizons globally. She has taken students to do research in Costa Rica with Seeds of Change, she has led them in a joint project with science students in Israel; and she has escorted them on educational tours in Europe.

“I love the bonds I build with my students, especially teaching the research class,” Christine says. “I am always trying to meet new people and learn new things that I can bring back to my students. The more I learn, the more I can help my students find fulfilling careers. After all, I love my job, and I want the same thing for my students,” she concludes.

In addition to her work with students in the classroom, Christine is a national presenter and advocate for increasing agricultural literacy, working with Nourish the Future, the National Corn Growers Association, the United Soybean Board, the Beef Checkoff, and the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. And as if all that were not enough, she has brought in more than $185,000 in grant funds to fund student research projects and STEM camps.

Her selection as New Jersey Teacher of the Year is not the only recognition Christine has received.  She was named the Genetics Educator of the Year by the National Association of Biology Teachers in 2022;  the Ocean County Teacher of the Year in 2022-2023; the Army Education Outreach Educator of the Year in 2021; and the New Jersey STEM Pathways Teacher of the Year in 2019. In 2021, she was selected as a state finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching Award (PAEMST).

Christina earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology with a concentration in Education from the College of New Jersey in Ewing, New Jersey, in 1994. She earned her Master’s degree in Earth Science Instruction and Curriculum from Kean University in Union, New Jersey, in 2005. She completed her student teaching assignment in Lancaster, England. Her career as an educator spans 28 years.

Science teacher Lori Danz named Wisconsin’s 2023 Teacher of the Year

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Science teacher Lori Danz of Superior, Wisconsin, has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Waterton Daily Times

I always enjoy sharing the story of exceptional educator who has earned accolades for their work I the classroom. One of these is Lori Danz, a science teacher from Wisconsin. She has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Lori teaches Biology at Superior High School in Superior, Wisconsin. She also serves as the School Forest Coordinator for her district. In this role, she connects students directly with nature through an outdoor forest program which she has tailored for all grade levels. In fact, through her program, over 2,000 students visit the Superior School Forest each year. There they learn about the Northwoods’ fish, trees, plants, insects, deer, ruffed grouse, and other forest inhabitants. In addition to organizing the forest curriculum, Lori provides professional development on outdoor education throughout her district and at state conferences for teachers.

Personally, I think it’s amazing that the school district places so much emphasis on forest education. But Lori is not surprised. “I think a lot of people see our forest as a place to learn science,” she declares. “And although that’s my passion, and you know, that’s what I chose to teach, what’s special about this place is it’s everything: It’s writing, it’s music, it’s art, it’s math, it’s science,” she continues. “So that’s, where a place like this is so special, because we can reach all students of all interests, and we just use nature as the context to do that,” Lori concludes.

The honored educator is a member of the Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education and the National Science Teachers Association. She has served as a district representative for the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers (WSST). For her work in the classroom, that organization honored her with a Regional Award for Excellence in Science Education.

Lori earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education and her Master’s degree in curriculum and Instruction, both from the University of Wisconsin, Superior. She has been teaching for 32 years.

 

NYC STEM teacher Bianca Bibiloni garners a 2023 Big Apple Award

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Elementary school science teacher Bianca Bibiloni from Queens, New York, has garnered a 2023 Big Apple Award. Photo credit: PS 14 Fairview

There are many fine educators who have earned accolades for their work in the classroom. One of these is Bianca Bibiloni, an elementary school STEAM teacher from New York City, who has earned a 2023 Big Apple Award.

Bianca teaches at PS 14 Fairview in Queens. She has worked there for 13 years. The school offers courses that focus on equity-based practices and culturally responsive education. To that end, she helped develop the school’s UNITY team.

In addition, Bianca has made it her mission to help her students to develop into problem-solving scientists. In fact, she spearheaded the school’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) program. An integral part of her program has been her involvement in the GrowNYC Recycling Champions program, a nonprofit organization that has established over 800 school gardens. Bianca has also participated in the Sustainable STEAM Fair. At her school site, Bianca has organized many garden initiatives for her students, and she is involved in the Seed to Plate Program. At one point, the innovative educator built a raised bed garden on top of a concrete schoolyard.

Congratulations, Bianca!