Two KY secondary teachers have been named finalists for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) award. The 2023 state finalists in science are Matthew Bryant of South Warren High School (Warren County) and Brian Welch of Madisonville North Hopkins High School (Hopkins County).

The awards program is administered by the National Science Foundation on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

https://www.kentuckyteacher.org/news/2023/05/four-kentucky-teachers-named-finalists-for-2023-presidential-award-in-science-and-math/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Applications are now open for the National Air and Space Museum's Teacher Innovator Institute.  Spend two weeks in Washington, DC, working with education and STEAM experts to explore the connections between informal STEAM education and authentic learning. Teachers will remain with the program for two summers, returning to Washington, DC, in year two to reconnect, develop their practice, and mentor the newest class of Teacher Innovators.  There is no cost for teachers to participate and most expenses are paid by the Museum.

https://airandspace.si.edu/learn/educator-resources/teacher-innovator-institute

Dr. Hainline's YouTube channel: recent video on the James Webb Space Telescope is exceptionally good.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZWbiSLbWuRa5aV6ymL0iug 

MAYSVILLE, KENTUCKY - April 27, 2022 - The National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT)  is pleased to announce that the 2022 Outstanding Earth Science Teacher (OEST) Central Section Winner is Yvonne Garrison, high school science teacher at Mason County High School. The annual award is for "exceptional contributions to the stimulation of interest in the Earth Sciences at the pre-college level."

The Central Section Committee of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers was particularly impressed by Ms. Garrison's development of project-based learning units and the fieldwork that accompanies these units, the partnership she has fostered with community members and the implementation of geologic and environmental solutions to real world problems. The detailed example of how she engages students in project-based geoscience learning gave the committee a clear picture of her passion for earth science and environmental teaching and her dedication to Mason County High School students and the profession.
 

NAGT was established in 1938 with the goal to improve geoscience education, emphasize the relevance and cultural significance of the earth sciences, and to disseminate knowledge to educators and the general public. The competitive Outstanding Earth Science Teaching Award program was established in 1971 to identify, recognize and reward excellence in teaching. The NAGT commends Yvonne Garrison for her dedication to her students and her outstanding earth science teaching. 

Founded in 1997, First Green is the only STEM education and environmental outreach program in the United States and Canada that uses golf courses as learning labs. First Green is a Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) program that pairs golf courses with local schools for unique Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning opportunities. First Green programs can be found in 28 US states, and on April 21st, 2022 Kentucky was the 29th state to host a First Green learning lab.

Shad Lacefield was awarded the First Green grant to cover the cost of the field trip for his 4th grade students. Shad is the 2021 recipient of KSTA's Outstanding Elementary Science Teacher award. See the attachment for full details. Garden Springs Elementary First Green Field Trip.pdf

Two Kentucky schools were named U.S. Department of Education (DOE) Green Ribbon Schools.

Cassidy Elementary School in Lexington and Ascension School in Louisville were named Green Ribbon Schools for their efforts to reduce environmental impact and energy costs, improve health and wellness, and offer effective, sustainable education, according to the DOE.

Lexington’s Cassidy Elementary is in elite company on this Earth Day. It’s been selected as one of 36 schools throughout the nation as a Green Ribbon School, meaning it has consciously taken efforts to reduce waste and energy on its campus.

Teacher Kristi Fehr, KSTA Central Kentucky District Director, has been teaching her class about keeping the planet clean. Her positive environmental contributions can be seen throughout the school grounds. She’s led initiatives on the importance of recycling and clean energy, like building an electric car.

You can read full articles and view news clips below:

Fox Lexington

WKYT News

KSTA's 2021 Outstanding Elementary Science Teacher Shad Lacefield is featured in this episode of Science Connections: The Podcast from Amplify.

“It’s about being engaged with your students and figuring out what are they liking. Every year it’s going to be different…when you have conversations and you build relationships with your kids.”

In this episode, Shad and I tackled the following questions:

• How can educators build meaningful relationships with their students?
• Has classroom engagement shifted after remote learning?
• What can educators do to cultivate the love of learning science content?

Dear science teachers,

I hope you are all doing well. This past week I gained two new students and I realized they were going to be completely lost this upcoming week since we are doing 2 CERs. So I added much more detail into my slides and made a step-by-step guide to writing CERs on the weekly slideshow. One thing I like is that we include the checklists on all of the slides. See attached.

The first CER, about ocean currents, has a scaffolded claim so if you want to see a CER explained from the beginning go to the second CER, slide 29, CER Ocean Density and Salinity. I wrote that lab yesterday so it will probably undergo some revisions after I do it this week. I'm open to suggestions. :) 

Here is our CER rubric that is based on the one NSTA made with additions of colors and other criteria. We just did a major redo on it to spell out things more clearly and sadly, it no longer fits on one page. 

Kind regards,
Rebecca Newburn

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Ms. Rebecca Newburn (she/her/ella)
Science Teacher
RebeccaNewburn.com
2021 National Distinguished School
2019 National School to Watch
Hall Middle School, Larkspur, California

Would you, your students, or someone you know be interested in meeting Astronaut Sian Proctor (https://www.space.com/inspiration4-spacex-mission-sian-proctor-reflection)? Dr. Proctor is the first black woman to pilot a spacecraft and she will be our guest in the Big Astronomy (https://www.bigastronomy.org/) live event on Friday, February 4, 2022. Mark your calendar and sign up to participate today!

WHEN: Friday, February 4^th at 7:00 PM Eastern time (6:00 PM Central, 5:00 PM Mountain, and 4:00 PM Pacific)

WHERE: Live Virtual Event – join via webinar or Facebook

LANGUAGE: English/Spanish

Six Kentucky educators have been selected as state finalists and are now eligible to receive a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) award, the nation’s highest honor for U.S. K–12 science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and/or computer science teachers.

Read more here: 
https://www.kentuckyteacher.org/news/2021/05/kentucky-finalists-chosen-for-presidential-award-for-excellence-in-mathematics-and-science-teaching/