Tag Archives: STEM teachers

Maine’s Michele “Mickie” Flores garners prestigious PAEMST award

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Michele “Mickie” Flores, a middle school STEM teacher from Maine, has earned a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). Photo Credit: PAEMST

Many fine STEM educators have earned recognition for their work in the teaching profession. One of these is Michele Flores of Maine, who has garnered a prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

Michele, who prefers to be called “Mickie,” has been a science educator since 1985. She has taught at all levels, including elementary, middle school, and high school. For the past 11 years, she has taught fifth graders through seventh graders at Deer-Isle Stonington Elementary School located in Deer Isle, Maine. Prior to that assignment, she taught chemistry at H.C. Williams High School for six years, middle level science at JM McKenney Middle School for 15 years, and five years at Immaculate Conception School. She also taught courses in science methods at the State University of New York at Potsdam.

As a teacher, Mickie has a reputation for creating a very innovative and collaborative curriculum. For example, during the 2020-2021 school year, her fifth and sixth graders monitored how birds used the bird feeder located on the school’s nature trail. They estimated cloud cover, recorded bird activity, graphed their data, and published their conclusions online. That same year, Mickie’s sixth and seventh grade students studied climate change in collaboration with students in both San Diego, California, and Honolulu, Hawaii. Together, they created an 80-page comic book on the subject. The students even interviewed local scientists as well as a comic book illustrator and produced graphic nonfiction comics from their interviews. The honored teacher explained that theiir goal was to have a voice in educating the public about the causes, effects, and solutions to the current climate crisis.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Mickie serves on the Teacher Advisory Group for the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance. She also serves on the Hancock County Teaching Collaborative of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. As a result of the work done by the Collaborative, the Institute garnered a grant from Rethinking Remote Education Ventures to create an accessible boardwalk and outdoor classroom for Deer Isle School’s nature trail.

Mickie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Animal Services in 1975 from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She earned her Master’s degree in Secondary Education and Teaching in 1980 from Elmira College in Elmira, New York.

Elem teacher Crystal Doi of Hawaii garners prestigious 2022 PAEMST award 

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Elementary school teacher Crystal Doi of Hawaii has garnered a prestigious 2022 PAEMST award. Photo Credit: Lifechanger.com

I always enjoy sharing stories about fine educators who have earned honors for their work in the classroom. One of these is Crystal Doi, an elementary school teacher from Hawaii who has garnered a prestigious 2022 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

Currently, Crystal is teaching sixth grade math and science at Kapunahala Elementary School in the Windward School District. Before that, she coordinated the science curriculum for students in kindergarten through fifth grade at Nu’uanu Elementary School in the Honolulu District. Prior to that, she taught sixth graders at Nu’uanu Elementary School in the Honolulu District, at Lili’uokalani Elementary School, and at Nimitz Elementary School. In all, her career as an educator has spanned 15 years.

Crystal has been instrumental in developing STEM instruction in her school and in her district. She was a participant in a district-wide science program called RIP-ing Through Science. While in the program, she authored a chapter in a book called “Look at Us Now!: Making Scientific Practices Matter in the Classroom… and Beyond.” She also co-authored a presentation delivered during the NSTA 2010 National Conference of Science Education.

And as if all that were not enough, Crystal was the teacher-coordinator for her school’s Gardening and Nutrition Program entitled ‘Aina in Schools. The curriculum for this program covers sustainability, nutrition, cooperation, and agriculture —traditional and modern.  She worked with outside agencies and nonprofit groups to acquire needed materials and manpower to construct planter boxes, have soil delivered to school to fill the boxes, have the students plant various types of produce, and have the students maintain and watch these plants and vegetables grow. Then the students harvested the plants and vegetables, cooked them, and consumed what was grown.

Crystal earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Chaminade University of Honolulu and her Associate of Arts from Kapi’olani Community College. She earned her license in Early Childhood Eduction from Hawaii Teachers Standards Board. She has also completed the requirements for certifications for STEM and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, both for kindergarten through sixth grade.

Well done, Crystal!

Florida STEM teacher Ryan Smith writes grants, wins awards

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Florida STEM educator Ryan Smith has written grants that have garnered over $60,000 for classroom projects and earned several prestigious awards for developing lessons that employ hands-on projects. Photo credit:

One of the most awesome educators around is Ryan Smith, a STEM teacher from Lake Worth, Florida. Ryan has earned several prestigious awards for developing lessons that employ hands-on projects to draw a direct connection between science concepts and the real world.

Ryan teaches science, math, and STEM courses to elementary students in grades two through eight. He has developed several elective courses for students in his school. These include a class in Environmental Engineering and another in Digital Design & Fabrication. In addition, Ryan co-created the Stiles-Nicholson STEM Inventors Challenge, which has been resulted in the placement of over 70 3D printers in middle and elementary schools in his area.

In 2021, Ryan garnered an Rosenthal Prize Honorable Mention from the National Museum of Mathematics. The honor was earned for his lesson, “Astronaut Explorer: A Measurement Conversion Conundrum,” which allows students to take on the role of astronauts exploring a new planet on which they must learn about the civilization’s measurement system. This activity promotes genuine thinking, decoding, and reasoning, and is designed to help students construct procedures for converting from one unit to another using ratios and unit conversions.  Ryan was awarded a $500 cash prize.

In addition to his Rosenthal Prize honors, Ryan garnered the School District of Palm Beach County Innovative Educator Award in both 2016 and 2015. In 2014, Ryan earned the Palm Beach County Science Educators (PBCSEA) Teacher of the Year Award.

Originally, Ryan planned to be a physical therapist, and for this reason he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science from Arizona State University in 2002. But then he changed course and decided to pursue a career in the classroom. He earned a second Bachelor’s degree in Education and Instructional Technology in 2016. He also earned a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Kaplan University in 2012.

CA teacher Lisa Moe to appear on Mission Unstoppable today

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Fourth grade STEM teacher Lisa Moe to appear on an episode of Mission Unstoppable later today. Photo credit: Twitter

Elementary school teacher Lisa Moe, who teaches fourth grade at Butterfield Ranch Elementary School in Chino Hills, California, will appear on television today in an episode of the show Mission Unstoppable. The episode will be broadcast at 9:00 am on KCBS-TV.

In her appearance, Lisa will describe her instructional strategies for building her students’ confidence and leadership abilities through Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) activities. Lisa, who promotes a “Yes, I can” mindset in her classroom, believes all students can excel in STEM activities.

Lisa’s curriculum emphasizes projects that provide ample opportunities for the kids to create something that make a positive contribution to the lives of others. For example, her students have created a home-made Roomba-style vacuum cleaner for the classroom that picks up pencil shavings and a cuddly robot dog that soothes children to sleep.

Lisa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2014. She completed the requirements for her first Master’s degree from the University of California, Irvine, in 2016, and her second Master’s in Education Technology from California State University, Fullerton, in 2020. In addition, she is certified in Gifted & Talented Education (GATE), New Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and Micro:bit Robotics.

Lisa inaugurated her career as an educator by working as a substitute for two years, followed by a one-year stint as an Intervention Specialist in the Corona Norco Unified School District in Corona, California. She has taught in Chino Hills for the past five years.

For her work in the classroom, Lisa has earned many accolades. The exceptional educator was named the 2020 Edwin Carr recipient in Educational Technology through California State University, Fullerton. She also garnered the honor of 2021 IACUE Blended and Online Educator of the Year.

Congratulations, Lisa Moe!

STEM educator Sharita Ware named Indiana’s 2022 Teacher of the Year

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Congratulations to Sharita Ware of Lafayette, Indiana, who has been named her state’s 2022 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Purdue University

Congratulations to Sharita Ware, an engineering and technology education teacher from Lafayette, Indiana! She has been named her state’s 2022 Teacher of the Year.

In her tenth year as a professional educator, Sharita teaches seventh and eighth graders at East Tipp Middle School at the Tippecanoe School Corporation in Lafayette. Her real-world, problem-based curriculum presents students with challenges that will help them contribute to their community. Included among the projects her students have worked on are designing prosthetic legs for Barbie dolls, building race cars, and programming robots.

Sharita also hosts after-school activities which provide students with opportunities to be innovative and creative through such programs as FIRST Lego League, the Monday Maker Hour, and March Maker Magic. “Our maker space gives kids freedom. You will have desired learning outcomes, but the way that they get to that learning outcome could be totally different from student to student and group to group,” says Sharita. “It is messy, and it’s hard for some teachers to have it be that messy. Sometimes, you think, ‘Is anything happening here?’ Kids will do projects completely different from each other, but they will learn the same thing,” she continued. “It’s pretty awesome to watch — if your nerves can handle it,” she concluded.

Sharita earned her Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering Technology from the Purdue Polytechnic Institute in 1993. She earned her Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Purdue University in 2013. In addition, she is certified in the Gateway to Technology program sponsored by Project Lead The Way. She worked in engineering and marketing in the private sector for a number of years before become an educator.

In addition to her honors as Indiana State Teacher of the Year, Sharita is a Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellow in the STEM Goes Rural program at Purdue University. She was also involved in the College of Technology Leadership and Innovation Advisory Board from 2014 to 2019.

Read more about Sharita Ware in this article published by Purdue University.