Math

The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) today announced the winners of its second annual All American Teacher of the Year Awards competition. The awards recognize outstanding math, science and English teachers in NMSI’s Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program (APTIP) for their contributions to their students and to the teaching profession. The 23 award winners will receive a cash award, and each teacher will be recognized at a special awards luncheon in Washington, D.C., on May 26, 2011.
“These teachers have demonstrated a total commitment to their students' academic growth,” said Tom Luce, CEO of NMSI. “Their efforts will help more of our nation’s young people succeed in school, work and life.”
The awards were given to one teacher each in Advanced Placement* math, science and English from seven states that participate in APTIP, along with two new awards this year: a teacher from a school participating in the Initiative for Military Families, which provides APTIP for students in schools that support military families, and a teacher from NMSI’s virtual AP program, Learning Power, in South Dakota.
Following are the 2011 All American Teacher of the Year Award winners:
Alabama
English: Susan Caraway, Clay Chalkville High School, Pinson, AL
Math: Matthew Massey, Buckhorn High School, New Market, AL
Science: Shani Forbes, Huffman High School, Birmingham, AL
Arkansas
English: Marsha Hudson, Rogers Heritage High School, Rogers, AR
Math: Brian Leonard, Lake Hamilton High School, Pearcy, AR
Science: Jason Walker, Russellville High School, Russellville, AR
Connecticut
English: Samuel Scheer, Windsor High School, Windsor, CT
Math: Kathleen Pointek, Windsor High School, Windsor, CT
Science: Joseph Mancino, Windsor High School, Windsor, CT
Kentucky
English: Amiee Cantrell-Webb, Johnson Central High School, Paintsville, KY
Math: Brian Sullivan, Henderson County High School, Henderson, KY
Science: Carlos Verdechia, Bryan Station High School, Lexington, KY
Massachusetts
English: Jennifer Clapp, Malden High School, Malden, MA
Math: Joseph Nystrom, South High Community, Worcester, MA
Science: Maureen Melanson, Methuen High School, Methuen, MA
Texas
English: Shirley Cooper, Lincoln High School, Dallas, TX
Math: Kathleen Murrell, J. Frank Dobie High School, Houston, TX
Science: Kyle Voge, W. Charles Akins High School, Austin, TX
Virginia
English: Ann Drew Gibbons, Franklin County High School, Rocky Mount, VA
Math: Benjamin Bazak, Patrick Henry High School, Roanoke, VA
Science: Jeffrey Steele, Liberty High School, Bedford, VA
South Dakota – Excellence in Online Teaching
Science: Jensi Kellogg-Andrus, Learning Power Online Program, South Dakota
Initiative for Military Families
English: Ashley Ashcraft, Harker Heights High School, Killeen, Texas (Fort Hood)
Teachers were able to nominate themselves or be nominated for the All American Teacher of the Year Awards by program content directors, board members from each state AP organization, school leaders, or colleagues. To be eligible, the candidates had to be a current AP math, science, or English classroom teacher in a public high school participating in the NMSI APTIP, the Initiative for Military Families, or in the virtual program; demonstrate positive results in APTIP; and demonstrate a commitment to teaching as a career and be an inspiring model of excellence to others. Nominations were reviewed by a NMSI judging committee of educators.

About NMSI: NMSI was launched in 2007 by top leaders in business, education, and science to reverse the United States’ troubling decline in math and science education. NMSI is focused on improving the American public school system by replicating programs nationally that have documented success: the AP Training and Incentive Program (APTIP) to expand the number high school students mastering college-level Advanced Placement* courses, and UTeach, a program to recruit and prepare college students to become qualified math, science and computer science teachers. Founding sponsors for NMSI include Exxon Mobil Corporation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.
The APTIP approach currently is being implemented in 10 states: Arkansas, Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia. The UTeach program is being implemented by 22 universities across the United States and enrollment has tripled in the last three years.
About the Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program (APTIP): APTIP increases dramatically the performance of high school students in rigorous college-level courses in math, science, and English. The comprehensive APTIP approach increases teacher effectiveness and student achievement through content training, teacher and student support, vertical alignment of teachers, open enrollment, and incentives. Schools participating in the program for the last two years in six states showed a 97.7 percent increase in AP exams passed in math, science, and English, which is seven times the national average.
About the Initiative for Military Families (IMF): The IMF’s mission is to provide consistent, high-level math and science education in high schools serving military bases in the Unites States. The initiative brings college-level math and science courses to students through the Advanced Placement curriculum and provides continuity for students in that coursework when their families are transferred. The program was launched in the 2010-2011 school year in four public high schools: Ellison High School and Harker Heights High School, which serve Fort Hood in Texas, and Hopkinsville High School and Christian County High School, which serve Fort Campbell in Kentucky. In 2011, NMSI will expand this program to an additional 28 high schools serving students of military families.