Schools

STEM Teacher of the Year Awarded to Marlborough Teacher

A computer science teacher at the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School will receive $5,000 grant after being honored Tuesday.

Kelly Powers received a $5,000 grant after being named the STEM Teacher of the Year by the he Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon.

“Kelly has such an obvious and deep commitment to all of her students and also to STEM education as a whole,” said Hall executive director Bryan Morry. "We chose five finalists who were all outstanding, but the work Kelly is doing to promote STEM education through her engagement with students and colleagues is extraordinary. We are proud to recognize someone who is having profound impact on STEM in Massachusetts.”

Powers is the inaugural winner of the award, which recognizes a Massachusetts teacher who is making significant contributions to STEM education. She will receive a $5,000 grant to be used for STEM education and will be honored at the 2013 Massachusetts STEM Summit held at Gillette Stadium in November and in a pregame ceremony at a 2013 New England Patriots game.

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“I am thrilled to be honored by The Hall and the Kraft family,” Powers said. “It’s very exciting to be selected and to have the Krafts not only help to promote STEM education, but also to recognize STEM teachers for the work we all do trying to impact today’s students through engaging activities and initiatives.”

Powers has introduced several new programs to her school, including the GEMS Program (Girls Engaged in Math, Science and Computer Science) which involves high school seniors mentoring middle school girls in mobile app development. Additionally, she worked with a UMass-Lowell professor to write curriculum in robotics and Java with AR drones, which is now fully in place at AMSA and brought a NASCAR STEM initiative called the Ten80 Racing Challenge to the school.

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She also launched the Technovation Challenge program at AMSA. The program is a science-education non-profit that helps engineers, scientists and high-tech professionals bring cutting edge science, technology and engineering to high school girls and underprivileged minority children and their families. A team of students from AMSA recently won the regional competition and traveled to compete nationally in a competition during which the students developed a mobile phone application.

Powers, who is co-president of the Computer Science Teachers Association and founder of the Boston chapter, has previously been recognized with the National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing Educator Award and with the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (MTLC) Technology Leadership Award.

All full-time, active and certified K-12 classroom STEM teachers in a state-accredited Massachusetts public or private school were eligible for the 2013 STEM Teacher of the Year Award. Nominations were submitted by someone with direct knowledge of the teacher’s impact in his or her school. A committee comprised of STEM professionals and staff from The Hall, the Patriots and Raytheon selected five finalists who were interviewed individually by the committee before the committee selected the STEM Teacher of the Year. All five finalists will be honored at the 2013 Massachusetts STEM Summit.


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