Top science and math teachers receive Presidential Award

99 secondary school teachers come to Washington to be honored

Darcy Hampton leads her 8th-grade physical science class in a discussion about the laws of conservation and mass, and evidence of chemical changes. Hampton teaches at Washington, DC's Alice Deal... Click here for more information.

Excellent teaching in math and science can make a crucial difference to students' mastery of these subjects, and to decisions about future study and careers. Teachers who bring such teaching to their classrooms are being honored by President Bush as winners of the 2007 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

Physics teacher William Leacock stages a dramatic demonstration of inertia and distribution of force by lying on a bed of nails while a student smashes a brick with a sledgehammer... Click here for more information.

The PAEMST is administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on behalf of the White House. Each year, state officials are asked to nominate the top science teacher and math teacher in their state. From year to year the program alternates in honoring elementary-level or secondary-level teachers.

For the 2007 awards, 99 middle school and high school math and science teachers are receiving this recognition. In the citation from the president, winners are commended "for embodying excellence in teaching, for devotion to the learning needs of the students, and for upholding the high standards that exemplify American education at its finest."

Each winner receives a $10,000 award from NSF, as well as a trip for two to Washington, D.C., for a week of celebratory events and professional development activities.

Among the activities during that week are a day with scientists and science educators at NSF; meetings with members of Congress and federal agency leadership; and a reception and dinner at the U.S. Department of State featuring guest speaker Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, a NASA Astronaut-Mission Specialist.