Barack Obama, source:flickr.com/Nick Knupffer
More than 100 recipients of the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) were honored this past week in Washington, D.C. These awards are the highest honor bestowed by the government on K-12 mathematics and science teachers in the U.S. The National Science Foundation (NSF) receives recommendations from states and territories of some of their best and most inspiring teachers for the award. NSF reviews the submissions and forwards recommendations to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
We had a chance to talk briefly with several of them about how they make math and science real for their students. Watch their interviews here.
This year's awardees, all 7-12th grade teachers, received $10,000 from NSF and an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to experience three days of exciting and memorable activities. Some highlights:
- A series of professional development sessions, including one on teacher leadership with Jay Labov, senior advisor from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
- A special dinner with associate director for science from OSTP.
- A day at NSF to learn more about the agency's cross-cutting science and engineering research and education endeavors.
- An awards ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building, where NSF Director France Córdova and OSTP's Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith addressed the teachers. Almost 400 guests were present.
- Professional development activities led by OSTP at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
- A visit to the White House where the teachers were personally congratulated by President Barack Obama.
NSF has had the honor of administering the PAEMST program on behalf of OSTP since 1983.
