FARMINGTON -- A Farmington fifth-grade science teacher is one of three finalists in the running to receive the Presidential Award of Excellence in Math and Science for Arkansas.
The winner will not be announced until December 2015, a year away, but this does not matter to Linda Flynn, who teaches at George R. Ledbetter Intermediate School.
"It's such a privilege to be a finalist," Flynn said. "It makes me feel like I've already won. It was a shock."
Arkansas Department of Education selected the three finalists. Their nomination packets have been forwarded to the national level for evaluation and final selection. The other two finalists are from Springdale and the Little Rock area.
Julia Williams, Ledbetter principal, said the school was visited by the Department of Education last spring during Benchmark testing. The person monitoring the test encouraged Williams to have a teacher apply for the presidential award because of the school's Benchmark scores. Ledbetter's fifth-grade students were first in the region in science scores for 2012-13 and second in the region for science for 2013-14.
Flynn is quick to point out that any of the science teachers at Ledbetter could have been nominated for the award. She had recently completed a comprehensive portfolio to achieve National Board Certification so she already had most of the work completed that would be part of a nomination packet for the presidential award.
"There's not a science teacher at Ledbetter that doesn't deserve this," Flynn said.
Williams, though, said Flynn has been a leader in pushing the school to become more focused on a math and science curriculum in all core courses. She said Flynn is a risk taker who is not afraid to tackle new challenges.
"We know that we have one of the finest teachers in the state in our building and we're just happy to share her," Williams said, adding Flynn even has the literary teachers using STEM lessons (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) in their classes."
Williams said Flynn is focused on what's best for students. Williams added it is nice for her to be recognized and honored and to receive "fruits for her labor."
Ledbetter teachers have attended professional development workshops on implementing STEM lessons and are adding STEM units across the curriculum. The school also is partnering with the University of Arkansas and its "Adopt a Classroom" program where UA graduate students come to the school and lead STEM lessons in the classrooms.
Williams, who has a literacy background, said Flynn and other teachers have forced her out of her comfort zone toward a STEM related emphasis.
"Linda has been the leader in making all this a reality," Williams said.
Flynn said she has been "blown away" with what her students are able to learn and comprehend.
One of their recent units was to design and create their own device to take a core sample from a potato slice. Working in groups, the students could only use binder clips, straws, rubber bands, Popsicle sticks, a cup and tape in creating a potato coring design.
The students then discussed why their design worked or why it did not work.
"I wish I had done this from the very beginning of my teaching," Flynn said, referring to changes she has made in her teaching methods based on STEM training.
One of her science students, Mateo Carbonel, said he likes Flynn's class "because we get to create what we learn about."
Another student, Logan Burch, added, "We get to do lots of labs and a lot of experiments and try new things."
General News on 01/14/2015