Presidential Awards for Excellence
in Mathematics and Science Teaching
Presidential Awards for
Excellence in Mathematics
and Science Teaching
Rewarding & Inspiring Great Teaching Since 1983
PAEMST
Past Awardee Highlights
Marni Landry
2013 PAEMST awardee, Marni Landry, has been a high school biology teacher for over 15 years. In that time, Marni has been able to provide her students with a global learning experience by traveling to Panama, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Mexico, and China with her biology club and academic decathlon team. She is also a member of the NSTA and the Arizona Science Teachers Association.
Luke Wilcox
Awardee, Luke Wilcox, has made several contributions to the world of mathematics both before and after winning the PAEMST award. Luke has been involved in the development of several statistics textbooks and is currently writing the Teacher’s edition of The Practice of Statistics, which is the most widely used AP Statistics book in the country. Most recently, Luke was recognized as Michigan’s 2017-2018 Teacher of the Year.
Sharon Hessney
Sharon Hessney has spent her 20+ year career serving others. She has served as a coach to dozens of Math Competition in Modeling teams and has raised over $60,000 for female students to attend Mount Holyoke’s SummerMath program. This PAEMST awardee has continuously used mathematics to teach students how to “make informed decisions as productive and successful citizens of our democracy.”
Melissa Collins
PAEMST awardee Melissa Collins has taught at John P. Freeman Optional School in the Memphis City Schools since 1999. While holding a variety of roles both within her school and within the teaching profession, her overall goal has been to educate and mentor urban students as they become future scientists and mathematicians. Most recently Melissa fulfilled a vision she had a year ago, holding a white coat ceremony for students entering the STEM club. These 3rd-8th grade students will embark on a year of STEM activities and competitions.
Jay Garvey Shah
As a PAEMST alum and a teacher for over 15 years, Jay Garvey Shah has had an impact on STEM education both at home and abroad. Shortly after receiving the PAEMST award, Jay traveled to Ethiopia where he taught sixth grade mathematics and science. Jay has also received an Outstanding Educator Award from the 100 Black Men organization and the Franklin H. Williams’ Returned Peace Corps Volunteers award for commitment to community service.
K. Renae Pullen
Since receiving the PAEMST award, K. Renae Pullen has taught undergraduate students elementary science methods for Louisiana State University, served on local, state, and national committees, and presented at numerous workshops and conferences. She was awarded a fellowship from the Fund for Teachers to study creativity and STEM in Spain, and was a consulting expert on the National Academies Press (NAP) book on science assessments, "Seeing Students Learn Science: Integrating Assessment and Instruction in the Classroom." K. Renae currently serves as a member of the Board for Science Education National Academies of Sciences and a NSTA/NCTM STEM Ambassador.
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Cindy Hasselbring used PAEMST?s $10,000 award to become a private pilot. With her pilot?s license in hand, she now serves as the Senior Director for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) where she is working to inspire students to enter careers in aviation and aerospace. Partnering with Purdue University, Cindy is currently field-testing a comprehensive 4-year aviation STEM curriculum in 29 high schools that are aligned to rigorous math and science standards. Once finalized, she plans to make the curriculum available to all schools at no charge.
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PAEMST helped to launch Wayne?s trajectory as a leader in his large urban school district. He transitioned from high school physics teacher to be the first Elementary Science Specialist in his district, with a charge to nurture and grow the elementary science program. He later received the 2016 Outstanding Administrator Award for this work from the North Carolina Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education (SMT) Center. Along the way, he was also a finalist for the NASA Astronaut Class of 2004, making it to the final cut of 37.
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Just two years after becoming a PAEMST awardee, Janice Mak now serves as the president of the Computer Science Teachers Association Arizona Chapter, and was recently appointed to National Center for Women & Information Technology?s (NCWIT) Executive Council for the K-12 Alliance. In addition, Janice was selected by the Governor to serve on the Arizona State Board of Education in 2016. She is also the co-founder of the Computer Science for Arizona (CSforAZ) task-force that works on convening stakeholders to advocate for K-12 computer science education.
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PAEMST awardee Crystal McMachen now serves as the President-Elect for the South Dakota Council of Teachers of Mathematics. She is also a virtual coach and mentors fellow STEM teachers across South Dakota. Most recently, Crystal was selected to be a member of the South Dakota Mathematics Leadership cohort, sponsored by the South Dakota Department of Education.
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As a PAEMST awardee and Einstein Fellow alum, Naveen Cunha started an award-winning STEM academy in his school district, where he teaches Principles of Applied Engineering as well as Robotics Programming and Design. He continues to support STEM educators nationwide as an evaluator for the Einstein Fellowship.
PAEMST.nsf.gov
An official website of the U.S. National Science Foundation.
The National Science Foundation
administers Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) on behalf of
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
