Merion's Penny Glackman earns Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching

Merion School third grade teacher Penny Glackman has earned the nation's highest honor for K-12 science and math educators. President Barack Obama announced last week that Glackman was one of 85 recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is awarded annually to outstanding K-12 science and mathematics teachers from across the country. The winners are selected by a panel of distinguished scientists, mathematicians, and educators following an initial selection process done at the state level.

Winners of this Presidential honor receive a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation to be used at their discretion. They also receive an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for an awards ceremony and several days of educational and celebratory events, including visits with members of Congress and the Administration.

President Obama has committed to strengthen science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and prepare 100,000 effective science and mathematics teachers over the next decade. These commitments build on the President's "Educate to Innovate" campaign, which has attracted more than $700 million in donations and in-kind support from corporations, philanthropies, service organizations, and others to help bolster science and technology education in the classroom.

"The teachers we honor today have demonstrated uncommon skill and devotion in the classroom, nurturing the young minds of tomorrow's science and math leaders," said President Obama. "America's competitiveness rests on the excellence of our citizens in technical fields, and we owe these teachers a debt of gratitude for strengthening America's prosperity."

Glackman, a classroom teacher at Merion since 1990, is best known for her passion for aerospace and exploration. Last month, she was one of seven teachers nationwide to win the 2011 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation (AIAA) Foundation Educator Achievement Award, one of the most prestigious honors in the U.S. for STEM teachers. The award is given every two years to precollege educators who have demonstrated exemplary efforts in exciting students in grades K–12 about the study of mathematics, science, and related technical studies, and in preparing them to use and contribute to tomorrow's technologies.

Students in Glackman's class connect to the real world in myriad ways, through visits from astronauts, engineers, authors and academicians, annual Space Day celebrations, video conferences with NASA, simulated space missions, the design and launch of model rockets, and other hands on activities.

Continually involved in professional development over the years, Glackman has attended programs sponsored by NASA, the Civil Air Patrol and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute. She is a member of the National Science Teachers Association Aerospace Committee, and is educator liaison for the Philadelphia Section of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Glackman received the National Space Society's Award for Excellence (earning a personal congratulations from Buzz Aldrin) and has been published in AdAstra.

Glackman is a member of the Lower Merion School District Science Task Force, Green Council, and Cultural Proficiency Cadre. She has been a Technology Mentor and workshop leader and has presented at conferences in science and mathematics, locally and nationally. She holds a B.A. in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. She received an M.A. in child development and education from Bryn Mawr College.

Glackman becomes the third classroom teacher in District history to earn the Presidential Award for Mathematics and Science Teaching. Former LMHS science teacher Carl Duzen won the award in 1986. Former Gladwyne teacher Kathleen Horstmeyer won in 1996. Current Supervisor of Secondary Science & Math Joey Rider-Bertrand earned the honor in 2006.

Additional resources:

• For Penny Glackman's official "Meet the Awardees" page on the PAEMST website, click here.
• For the official White House press release, click here.
• For the National Science Foundation fact sheet about the award, click here.
• For coverage in Ardmore Patch, click here.