Awards
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ISTA/ExxonMobil Outstanding Teacher of Science Awards Program
Read more about the 2007–08 Awards Program.
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ISTA's Outstanding High School Science Student Award
As a current ISTA member, you can order a medallion and certificate to honor your outstanding science student. This beautiful medallion and certificate are ideal for presenting during your high school's award ceremony. To order your medallion, email Sherry Duncan at sjduncan08@comcast.net.
ISTA/ExxonMobil Outstanding Teacher of Science Awards Program (2006–2007)
The Illinois Science Teachers Association with the generous support of ExxonMobil has presented $1000 Awards for "extraordinary accomplishment" in the field of science teaching to the following ISTA members:
| Eeva Burns no photo available |
Region 1: Eeva BurnsEeva teaches 8th grade science at Big Hollow Middle School in Ingleside. Eeva has been teaching for 10 years and has been at Big Hollow since 2001. She writes "One thing that I have learned in those years is that students will rise to the level of your expectations. They will do and learn the most astounding things if you give them the opportunity and the tools to do so." To "give" students those tools, Eeva has been successful in grant writing, receiving about $10,000 of equipment from 8 grant sources. Some of the equipment from the grants, such as the CBL2's, GPS, and digital cameras, are used by her students at nearby Volo Bog where Eeva has worked with the naturalist to develop a plant research project. She also works collaboratively with other teachers in her grade level in designing a forensic unit and a genetics unit. She has been a participant in the Illinois Rivers Project, ENTICE program, and NASA Educational Workshop 2002 (NEW). Eeva is an integral part of the school improvement team, building PTO, and district Referendum Committee. She also serves as a Key Leader for Illinois Building a Presence for Science. |
| Kent Buckrop no photo available |
Region 2: Kent BuckropKent teaches 7th grade earth science and social studies at Glenview Middle School in East Moline. Kent has been teaching since 1989 and has been at Glenview Middle School since 1990. "He consistently displays a unique ability to try an activity in another way; he chooses to approach and solve problems from various angles not inherent within the activity. I can infer that he encourages his students to do the same." is stated in one of his letters of recommendation. Two Liter Meteorology, a presentation given at a Pre K-8 Update Conference at Western Illinois University is one example. In the after-school program, IMSA Excellence 2000+ (E2K+) he introduced a number of additional rocketry activities to the "Let's Do Launch – Learning about Force and Motion" unit. Kent is also interested in "down to earth" activities and has written grants to create an outdoor learning environment. It started with receiving a grant for picnic tables for an outside area where students could learn about ecology, botany, and be taught in an outside environment. He later received grants for landscaping, seed starting supplies, and a greenhouse. Kent serves as a Point of Contact for Illinois Building a Presence for Science. |
| David E. Brown no photo available |
Region 3: David E. BrownDavid teaches 5th grade at Baldwin Intermediate School – West in Quincy. David began his teaching career in Florida in 1988 and has been in his present school for two years. His principal writes "Walking into Mr. Brown’s classroom is like walking into a living nature museum. Students in his class take an active part in developing and maintaining specific areas in the nature section of his classroom. Not only does Mr. Brown utilize this nature area in conjunction with science curriculum, but also with writing instruction." David has received numerous grants, one of which recently provided support for a field trip to Fall Creek Preservation Area and Siloam Springs State Park where students bio monitor and share their results with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. David has been the recipient of many awards, the most recent being Outstanding National Conservation Educator 2007 by the Paul F. Brandwein Institute. In 2003 he was selected for the Teachers Experiencing the Arctic and Antarctica Project Fellowship where he spent two months in the Arctic with a research team from the University of Tennessee on the Arctic Environmental Observatory Project. He currently serves on the Quincy Public School District Science Committee and is the Founder of the Baldwin Green Team/Teacher Environmental Education Team. |
| Troy J. Simpson no photo available |
Region 4: Troy J. SimpsonTroy teaches 7th grade life science and 8th grade earth science at Glenn Raymond School in Watseka. Troy began his science classroom teaching in 2002. Prior to that, he has been a technical assistant at the Illinois State Geological Survey, a business/education liaison, and an LD resource instructor. Troy's classroom motto is a quote from Roy Chapman Andrews: "Always there is an adventure just around the corner, and the world is still full of corners." Troy's adventures in the classroom and school involved receiving grant monies in excess of $10,000 which paid for projection and interactive whiteboard system, computer and calculator integrated lab probes, and GIS technology. The technology is used by students and Troy assists his fellow faculty in learning how to use the equipment effectively in their classrooms. Beyond the day, Troy the school day, Troy coaches an extremely successful Science Olympiad team and is the co-sponsor of the Science and Outdoor Education Club. This club reaches the entire school population with activities that have ranged from canoeing to geo-caching and even caving. Troy was recently elected to ISTA Region 4 Director 2007-2009. |
| Ed Caster no photo available |
Region 5 had no entries. The Award from Region 5 was given
to the highest point holder from all the other applicants:
Region 7: Ed CasterEd is a Magnet Cluster Lead Teacher, Science Resource/Teacher, and Coordinator of E2K+ at Dunne Math, Science and Technology Academy in Chicago. Ed has been a teacher in the Chicago Public Schools for 34 years. He has been chairperson of the social studies committee at Hope Middle School before becoming a self-contained classroom teacher at Dunne. He has been a math teacher and then a computer lab instructor. As his current principal attests "It does not matter what subject he teaches, he excels in instruction." Ed is a teacher on the Homework Show in which he is able to show how science and reading can be integrated, do experiments and demonstrate how much fun science can be. He has organized the school science fair and worked with Area Science Fair as well. He was instrumental in developing a partnership with the Shedd Aquarium through its Navigators program. This program allows the teachers the grades K – 5 to borrow science units from the Shedd. For IMSA, he has been the site coordinator for their Early Involvement Program. This program is focused on helping ninth grade students to improve their math and science skills and on prepaying them to take the SAT as part of the application requirements for IMSA. Ed has also taught in the SEAMS program (Summer Enrichment for Academics in Mathematics and Science) which is designed to offer an opportunity to eighth grade graduates who are from groups that are underrepresented and often underserved in math and science. |
| Jeff Bremer no photo available |
Region 6: Jeff BremerJeff teaches 7th and 8th grade science at Vienna Grade School in Vienna. He has been teaching there for the last 19 years and taught for two previous years in a nearby district. Jeff's principal states the following: "His "hands-on" approach to teaching/learning has certainly enhanced student learning while providing students with a true sense of how science affects their world and the work around them." As evidence, "96.8 % of his student met/exceeded state standards on the 2006 ISTA" in a school that is categorized as economically disadvantaged. Jeff writes that "In 21 years of teaching, I have tried to make use of opportunities to teach outside the textbook." His students have had projects in a science fair for the past 18 years. His students participated in the Invent America resulting in one project being a state award winner. His classes have participated in the county-wide testing project, canoe trips where macro-invertebrates were studied, leaf studies led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Heron Pond in the Shawnee National Forest, and diversity studies in the Ferne Clyffe State Park, At the DuQuoin Construction Exposition students have exposure to carpentry, metalwork, concrete, and electrical work opportunities. Jeff has been trained as a Starlab presenter and does presentations for every grade level. Jeff operates a family farm and coaches the basketball team. |
| Wendy M. Jackson, Ph.D. no photo available |
Region 7: Wendy M. Jackson, Ph.DWendy teaches 7th & 8th grade science at Yates School in Chicago. She has taught there since 2003. Wendy has an extensive background in ecology dating from 1982. As stated in one of her letters of recommendation, "Her interest is in bringing the excitement of scientific investigation to her students and in helping them to imagine themselves as future scientists." In 2003, she received her first grant for "Water, A World of Wonder" (focusing on the physical and chemical properties of water) which was followed in 2004 by a National Geographic Society Teacher Grant of $5000 for "Water, A World of Wonder" (focusing on the biological, ecological, and cultural significance of water). She is developing an urban ecology curriculum using simple feeding experiments with tree squirrels and a web-based citizen science project to test hypotheses about ecology and animal behavior. She received other grant monies for materials and supplies to create an after-school club for "Quilting: Where4 Science and Art Meet." She is a Science Team Leader for the Chicago High School Redesign Initiative, a Professional Development Leader for the Chicago Math & Science Initiative, and a mentor for pre-service science teachers enrolled in courses at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has several publications and she was recently on the panel "Teaching in 'High Need' Schools" at the NSF conference on Recruiting Science and Mathematics Teachers for the 21st Century held in Washington, D.C. |