Chemistry Teacher of the Year Award
By Jackie Meyer on April 3, 2018
The American Association of Chemistry Teachers’ (AACT) Chemistry Teacher of the Year Award is presented to three K-12 educators who each demonstrate the pedagogy, dedication, skills, and accomplishments of an outstanding teacher. An elementary teacher of science, a middle school teacher of physical science, and a high school teacher of chemistry have been chosen for this award. Each award-winning teacher is actively involved with AACT, and demonstrates a strong commitment to promoting chemistry and STEM education in their school and district.
Rebecca Field - Elementary School Chemistry Teacher of the Year
Rebecca teaches 5th grade, including science, at Kolb Elementary School in Bay City, MI. Besides teaching chemistry to her classes, she also teaches them biology, earth science, environmental science, engineering, and physics. Rebecca has been a member of AACT since 2015 and was previously the Elementary School Ambassador. She has written blog posts for AACT, an article for Chemistry Solutions, presented a webinar about K-8 resources, and presented during Teacher Day at the ACS National Meeting. Rebecca has been teaching for more than 20 years and is currently a participant in the Dow Corning Foundation/Saginaw Valley State University Community STEM Partnership Program and a certified Chemical Education Foundation Instructor.
Rebecca’s Twitter: @rkf727
Favorite AACT Resource: Ice Cube Race
Favorite Classroom Reading Books for Science Classes: Books by Andrea Beaty, including: Ada Twist, Scientist; and Rosie Revere, Engineer
Laura Celik - Middle School Chemistry Teacher of the Year
Laura teaches 7th and 8th grade students at Princeton Charter School in Princeton, NJ. In addition to chemistry, Laura also teaches biology, physical science, and computer programming. Laura has been a member of AACT since 2016, and was a participant in the AACT-PPG Chemistry of Color Content Writing Team where she created two chemistry resources for middle school teachers. Laura is co-coach of the regional championship Science Bowl team and runs an after-school Chemistry Club for 7th and 8th grade students at her school.
Favorite AACT Resource: Inflating a Balloon with Chemistry
Favorite AACT Videos: Sam Kean’s Disappearing Spoon
Kristen Drury - High School Chemistry Teacher of the Year
Kristen teaches AP Chemistry and Regents chemistry at William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach, NY, and joined AACT in 2016. She has written an article about lab techniques for Chemistry Solutions, hosted two webinars about flipped classrooms and POGIL, and presented about the flipped classroom at Teacher Day during an ACS National Meeting. Kristen teaches best practices in science education to new chemistry teachers at Stony Brook University through the New York Master Teacher Program where she promotes AACT and the benefits of finding a like-minded teaching community to share ideas with. Kristen is also a peer-reviewer for Chemistry Solutions and the Journal of Chemical Education.
Kristen’s Twitter: @APchemisme
Favorite AACT Resource: Chemistry Solutions
Favorite AACT Video: Founders of Chemistry videos like the Robert Boyle Video
Favorite AACT Benefit: Webinars to connect with educators across the country