Congratulations to Parkside Elementary’s Teacher of the Year, Ronnie Thomas, who recently earned a scholarship to attend the 2010 Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy (HE@SA) program this June. Here’s his own take on this experience …
“I was reminded while attending the High Museum Leonardo Da Vinci Math and Science Professional Development that minorities and females are extremely underrepresented in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) related careers. The thought stayed with me while attending the Mickelson Exxon Mobil Teacher Academy later that summer in New Orleans, where we engaged in ways to integrate math and science skills in the classroom. At the start of the 2010 academic year I led fundraising projects in effort to send students to space camp where they would gain insight to possible career ideas. I also sponsored our school’s first robotics team and the 20 students from grades 2-5 of various ethnic, economic and gender backgrounds showed great interest in the STEM-related skills they were introduced to. … (More at the jump.)