Mercer Middle School teacher wins Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence

L to R: Mr. Ettinger; Carol Pawlak, 
Amgen; Andra Lutz, Principal.
(Photo credit Jeffrey Luke)

On April 15, 2011, Robert Ettinger, a teacher at Mercer Middle School, was awarded the prestigious Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence with a prize of $10,000: $5,000 for the teacher and $5,000 for the school. The award ceremony in Mr. Ettinger’s classroom drew cheers from students.

Robert Ettinger was chosen to receive the Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence because of his creative teaching methods and effectiveness in the classroom.

"Mr. Ettinger has a passion for science and shares that passion with his students, not only to get them to learn science, but to love it as well,” says Carol Pawlak, who is responsible for Amgen’s philanthropy in the state. “Mr. Ettinger lives science and translates his teacher development and summer science adventures into exciting, relevant curriculum for his students. When Mr. Ettinger looks at his class, he doesn’t just see students, he sees scientists.”

Robert Ettinger, teacher,
Mercer Middle School
(Photo credit Jeffrey Luke)

His methods are successful; the number of students at Mercer Middle School meeting or exceeding standard on the WA state science test have more than doubled from 31% in 2008 to 69% in 2010. Mr. Ettinger’s goal is to have 90% of students pass the state science test.

About the Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence
Robert Ettinger is among four recipients of the 2011 Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence in Washington State.

The program was designed by biotechnology company Amgen to recognize teachers in the K-12 grade levels in public and private schools whose dedication to their student’s education has had a significant impact on the learning and interest of the future generation of scientists. Each teacher will receive an unrestricted $5,000 grant and their schools will receive a restricted $5,000 grant which can be used for the expansion or enhancement of a school science program, science resources, or the professional development of the school’s science teachers.

The Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence will be presented to 34 recipients throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada in locations where Amgen has a presence.

Nominations are solicited every fall with winners selected based on the following criteria: innovative science lesson plan showcasing novel teaching methods in the classroom, creativity and effectiveness of teaching methods and the plan for the use of grant money to improve science education resources in their schools. Since the program’s inception in 1992, Amgen has awarded more than $2.5 million dollars to educators who have made exceptional science-teaching contributions and who have had a measurable impact on the lives of their students. For more information visit: www.amgen.com/citizenship/aaste.html

"I gotta drop some knowledge on ya'll right quick."

My full armor 

is my diploma

with the tools I learn in school

I will smell

victory sweet aroma.

Don't miss this incredible spoken word duo at the Alliance for Education's Community Breakfast, April 14th.  Click here for more information.

Entire spoken word poetry performance by students of Franklin High from Get Schooled on Vimeo.

Oregon Senate Education committee approves bill to make Oregon governor the state education superintendent

Portland Oregonian - Gov. John Kitzhaber moved one step closer this afternoon to becoming Oregon's top education chief. The Oregon Senate Education Committee, with little discussion, unanimously approved Senate Bill 552, which would make Oregon's governor the state superintendent of schools.

The bill would require the Governor to name a deputy superintendent, who would run the education department and oversee the public school system.

But if approved, Senate Bill 552 would not unseat current superintendent Susan Castillo, who was re-elected to a third term less than year ago. 

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Elwha ecosystem classroom project gets state grant

Peninsula Daily News - A class of young scientists who will gather data while two dams on the Elwha River are removed has received a $10,000 state grant.

The state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction announced the winners of this year’s Qwest Teachers & Technology grants Tuesday. Nine received grants statewide.

Brenda Manson’s class at Stevens Middle School in the Port Angeles School District was the only North Olympic Peninsula class to receive money.

Her 31 eighth-grade students will take field trips to the Elwha River this fall, taking new probeware devices to collect ecosystem data as the 108-foot Elwha Dam and the 210-foot Glines Canyon Dam are torn down beginning in September.

The dams are coming down to restore salmon habitat in the largest project of its kind in the nation’s history.

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And so, last summer, Julie Zuckerman, the principal of a highly regarded public elementary school — Central Park East 1 in East Harlem — applied to open a new elementary school on the other side of Manhattan, in Washington Heights. Her plan was to create something truly rare: an urban school not focused on standardized testing.

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President focuses on needs of Latino students in town hall meeting

CNN - President Barack Obama took to the Spanish-language network airwaves Monday to discuss challenges in educating Hispanics students.

In a Univision-sponsored town hall meeting with Hispanic students and educators at Bell Multicultural High School in Washington, the president said to out-educate and out-innovate the global competition, the Latino community must play a key role in the future.

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Interim Seattle schools superintendent sets priorities

Seattle Times - Susan Enfield, interim superintendent of Seattle Public Schools, announced her top priorities for the rest of the school year Friday, along with a list of opportunities for parents, teachers, principals, students and others in the community to share their views and concerns with her.

Enfield, now in her fourth week in the school district's top job, said she will report what she's learned from all those groups by early May, and how their perspectives might be incorporated into the district's plans.

At the same time, Enfield said, she intends to continue the five-year plan crafted under her predecessor and former boss, Maria Goodloe-Johnson, "although with an eye to making adjustments in light of budget constraints."

"Before taking on significant new initiatives," she said, "we want to closely examine the current work under way and make sure we're doing it well."

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