National Math and Science Initiative Announces First 'NMSI School of the Year' and Awards for Eight Outstanding Teachers

DALLAS, March 26, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) announced today that an Oklahoma high school will receive its first "NMSI School of the Year" award and be honored in May along with eight outstanding teachers who are helping transform public schools across the country through their teaching and teacher-training.

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Eisenhower High School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was selected as the 2013 "NMSI School of the Year" for its record-setting gains in academic achievement.   In its first year of implementing the NMSI Advanced Placement* program for schools serving military families, the Oklahoma school students produced an 81 percent increase in qualifying scores on Advanced Placement math, science and English exams and accounted for 23 percent of the entire state's gains in qualifying scores in those subjects.  The school also had a 136 percent increase in qualifying scores for African-American and Hispanic students in the critical subjects of math, science and English, which catapulted them into achieving the most qualifying scores among African-American and Hispanic students in math, science and English in the state.

"The results at Eisenhower High School are spectacular.  The progress being made there will open doors to college for more students – and many of them have parents serving our country in the military," said Sara Martinez Tucker, NMSI President and CEO.

Eisenhower High School, which is near the Ft. Sill Army base, is one of 52 high schools serving students from military families that have been selected to implement NMSI's highly successful AP program.  Funding to implement the program at Eisenhower was provided by Northrop Grumman.

The fourth annual NMSI awards for academic excellence also will spotlight the outstanding work in 2012-2013 of four AP math, science and English teachers and four teacher trainers.   Each winner will receive a cash award and will be honored at a special awards dinner in Dallas, Texas, on May 29, 2013.

The "NMSI Teacher of the Year" awards for 2012-2013 recognize the achievements of four teachers from schools participating in the NMSI AP training and incentive program:
English: Zestian Simmons, who teaches AP Language and Composition at Booker T. Washington Magnet High School in Montgomery, Alabama
Science:  Julie Wood, who teaches AP Environmental Science at Bryan Station High School in Lexington, Kentucky
Math: Brian Canady of Richmond, Virginia., who teaches AP Statistics at Lee-Davis High School in Mechanicsville, Virginia
Overall Achievement: Irene Mahoney of Peabody, Massachusetts, who teaches AP Biology at Chelsea High School in Chelsea, Massachusetts

The "NMSI Teacher Trainer of the Year" award is being given to four teacher trainers for their excellence in implementing the NMSI training program to improve classroom teacher skills:
Math: Jay Fitch from Euless Trinity High School in Euless, Texas
Science: Bryan Box from City View Junior/Senior High in Wichita Falls, Texas
English: Stephanie Carter from Lone Oak High School in Paducah, Kentucky
Overall Performance: Julie Stephenson from Ruston High School in Ruston, Louisiana

About National Math and Science Initiative:  NMSI, a non-profit organization, was launched in 2007 by top leaders in business, education and science to transform math and science education in the United States.  NMSI has gained national recognition for training K-12 teachers across the country to inspire students to succeed in math, science and English classes as well as recruiting more college students to become dedicated math and science teachers through the UTeach program.  NMSI's AP program – which includes intensive training for teachers, open enrollment, additional study sessions for students and incentives for success – is increasing achievement in 462 schools in 18 states. The NMSI Teacher Training program has trained over 60,000 teachers to deliver more rigorous lessons in the classroom and was selected by PARCC as a premier partner to deliver common core teacher training. The UTeach program, which NMSI is expanding nationally in conjunction with The University of Texas UTeach Institute, is transforming teacher preparation in 34 universities in 16 states. For more information, please visit www.nms.org.

Media contact: Mary Ortiz, [email protected], 214-346-1245

*AP and Advanced Placement Program are registered trademarks of the College Board

SOURCE National Math and Science Initiative