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Hackensack
Secondary Science Teacher Named Among the Best in the United States
Washington,
D.C./May
3, 2000 - President Clinton
has named Beverly
Nelson a recipient of the
nation's highest honor for U.S.
science teachers in grades K through 12.
Nelson,
a teacher at Hackensack
High School, is among
200 teachers selected for the 1999 Presidential Award for Excellence in
Mathematics and Science Teaching.
"America's continuing success in
the international technological revolution depends heavily upon building our
strength in mathematics and science education," says Rita Colwell,
director of the National Science Foundation, which administers the awards
program on behalf of the White House."The
teachers we honor here are educating those who will lead this country-and the
world-in creating, developing, and putting to work new ideas and new
technologies."
Each year, a national panel of
distinguished scientists, mathematicians, and educators recommends teachers
to receive a Presidential Award - one elementary and one secondary math
teacher and one elementary and one secondary science teacher from each state
and four designated jurisdictions.The 1999 awardees
were selected from among 648 state finalists.
As an awardee,
Nelson will receive an educational
grant to be used at Hackensack High School, a Presidential citation, and a trip to
Washington, D.C., for a series of recognition events,
information exchange programs, and an awards ceremony.
Nelson
is a 1961 graduate of Monmouth College, Monmouth,
IL with a BA in Chemistry and
minor in science education/mathematics & physics. www.monm.eduShe was well prepared for her
teaching experiences under the direction of Dr. Benjamin Shawver, her
advisor and mentor. She has taught nursery school and 7th-8th-grade
math and science in Illinois, Kindergarten in Illinois, Texas and New Jersey
before teaching high school chemistry, earth science, physics and general
science in New Jersey.She has taught for 21 years.Nelson has served on the National Science Teachers
Board of Directors, the National Association of Science, Technology and
Society Board, served as president of the New Jersey Science Teachers
Association and is currently Newsletter editor for this organization.www.njsta.org.
Beverly
has been a proponent for “Science for All Children” and actively supports the
national and state standards after being a reviewer for both documents.
The Presidential Awards program was
established in 1983.A complete listing of this year's awardees can be found
at www.nsf.gov/pa.
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