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.
