President Obama honors outstanding teachers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Obama recently named 97 mathematics and science teachers as recipients of the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. The educators will receive their awards in Washington, D.C., later this month.

Among those honored for the Department of Defense Education Activity was Spencer Bean, a math teacher in Baumholder who is being transferred to Ramstein High School in the fall.

The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is awarded annually to outstanding K-12 science and mathematics teachers from across the country.

The winners are selected by a panel of distinguished scientists, mathematicians and educators following an initial selection process done at the state level. Each year the award alternates between teachers teaching kindergarten through sixth
grade and those teaching seventh through 12th grade. The 2011 awardees
named today teach seventh through 12th grade.

Winners of this presidential honor receive a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation to be used at their discretion. They also are invited to Washington, D.C., for an awards ceremony and several days of educational and celebratory events, including visits with members of Congress and the administration.

President Barack Obama has committed to strengthen science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and prepare 100,000 effective science and mathematics teachers over the next decade.

These commitments build on the president’s “Educate to Innovate” campaign, which has attracted more than $700 million in donations and in-kind support from corporations, philanthropies, service organizations and others to help bolster science and technology education in the classroom.

“America’s success in the 21st century depends on our ability to educate our children, give our workers the skills they need and embrace technological change. That starts with the men and women in front of our classrooms.

“These teachers are the best of the best, and they stand as excellent examples of the kind of leadership we need in order to train the next generation of innovators
and help this country get ahead,” Obama said.

(Courtesy of Dr. Peggy Hoffman-Schmidt, Kaiserslautern District Office)