WILLIAMSBURG — Two teachers from the Anne T. Dunphy School and one from Hampshire Regional High School have received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
President Barack Obama named the 213 award winners from across the country on Monday. This award is the highest recognition that a kindergarten through 12th grade mathematics or science teacher may receive for outstanding teaching in the United States.
Karen Schweitzer and John Heffernan from the Dunphy School, and Keith Wright of Hampshire Regional are three of the four teachers from Massachusetts who received the honor. Neil Plotnick, a math teacher at Everett High School, is the fourth.
“It is most impressive that they selected four teachers from each state and three of the four teachers from Massachusetts are in our school district and two are from the same elementary school,” Hampshire Regional School District Superintendent Craig Jurgensen said.
Jurgensen said that this news has been the “highlight of the summer.”
“The teachers had been recognized at the Statehouse over a year ago as being in the running for the award, but we only received this news” Monday, Jurgensen said Tuesday.
“Science and math are two of the things that we have been working on. To have these teachers be recognized in this way is something to be proud of,” he said. “It is a terrific feather in our cap.”
Dunphy School Principal Stacey Jenkins said because there are “so many strong teachers across the state,” the awards are particularly meaningful.
“I am pleased for them and I am pleased for the school,” Jenkins said. “It is a great way to start off the school year.”
Award winners receive a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation to be used at their discretion, and are invited to Washington, D.C., for an awards ceremony, as well as educational and celebratory events, and visits with members of the administration.
Schweitzer has spent most of her 34-year career teaching kindergarten through second grade. She has been at the Anne T. Dunphy School for 26 years, where she currently teaches third grade.
In addition to her classroom work, over the last 22 years, Schweitzer has been part of an ongoing series of projects funded by the National Science Foundation with researchers from Mount Holyoke College and the Education Development Center. She has contributed to the “Developing Mathematical Ideas” professional development materials, and presented at national conferences.
Schweitzer provides professional development in mathematics and mathematics education for pre-service and in-service teachers around the country.
She has a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a master’s degree in mathematics teaching, with concentration in leadership, from Mount Holyoke College, and is certified in kindergarten through 8th-grade elementary education.
“I am honored, proud and excited to receive this award,” Schweitzer said. “It is absolutely unusual to have one school that has both the math and science teacher recipients. For a little school like ours, this is wonderful.”
For the past 12 years, Heffernan has been the pre-kindergarten through 6th-grade technology teacher at the Dunphy School.
Heffernan has presented sessions on technology, science, and engineering education at conferences, and is co-author of an upcoming article in the Journal of Research in Technology Education, titled: “Robotics as Computational Manipulatives.”
He is also the author of the book “Elementary Engineering: Sustaining the Natural Engineering Instincts of Children.”
Heffernan is a member of the LEGO Education Advisory Panel. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Tufts University, a master’s degree in elementary education from Lesley University, and an education specialist degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Heffernan is currently completing a doctorate in Science, Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) education at UMass, and is certified in both elementary and kindergarten through 12th-grade technology education.
“I was very glad to receive the award,” Heffernan said noting that all award recipients will soon be visiting the White House. “They haven’t guaranteed anything, but hopefully we will get to meet the president.”
Wright is one of the newest teachers at Hampshire Regional High School.
From 2006 to 2016, he taught 11th-grade chemistry and middle school science at the Springfield Renaissance School, where he provided opportunities for students to build on their interests and develop new knowledge through field work.
A Noyce Master Teaching Fellow, Wright will begin teaching chemistry at Hampshire Regional this fall.
Wright earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, a master’s degree in secondary science education, and a master’s degree in natural resource conservation from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is a certified high school chemistry teacher and middle school science teacher.
“We are very happy to have Keith as a staff member at the high school. He is a very nice man and it is obvious that he does his utmost for the students,” Jurgensen said.
The awards alternate between teachers in kindergarten through 6th grade, and those in 7th through 12th grades. The awards announced Monday result from two years of nominations.