Leadership in Education (LEAP) Competition for Teachers
Feedback from Recipients

Are you amazed at the lack of understanding the general public has about scientific issues and approaches that affect public policy, the legal system, or our ability to solve the hard problems that face our country? Certainly there ought to be a way that we, the MIT alumni/ae in South Texas, can do something about this problem of science illiteracy in our community. The MIT Club's Leadership in Education Program (LEAP) grew out of this desire to do something. Each year the Club recognizes several science and math teachers in our area who have demonstrated that they are making a difference. Every year, we finance the attendance of a teacher to an MIT summer program for teachers. The Leadership in Education program is made possible in part by special contributions made by Club members.

Perhaps the most compelling argument for our continued support of this program is made by past LEAP winners:

2007 Winner, Mary Patterson from Hamilton Middle School in Cy-Fair ISD

2007 Winner, Serena Magrogan, Hightower High School in Ft. Bend ISD

2005 Winner, Anne Mangas Smith, James E. Bay Elementary School from Clear Creek ISD

2003 Winner, Andra Zoller, James E. Bay Elementary School from Clear Creek ISD

2007 Winner, Mary Patterson from Hamilton Middle School in Cy-Fair ISD

I would like to express my deepest gratitude for your financial support this summer in making it possible for me to attend the SEPT program at MIT.

Looking through the lens of learning, before I attended the SEPT program, I was quite nearsighted with a touch of astigmatism. I was focused on the students right in front of me and it was a little blurry as to how I would be able to help them get from sixth grader to scientist or engineer. As a result of attending this very intense MIT program for teachers, I now see the path ahead of my students more clearly. My vision into the distance also improved as I listened to many lectures about what is on the forefront of scientific research. 

Many of my colleagues attending this workshop were high school teachers trained in a specific field of science. Many had previous experience in the field of research or engineering. I applaud your group for selecting someone like me….a teacher in the middle…elementary trained with no research or engineering background. This program has made quite an impact on how I think about teaching science.

I feel more strongly than ever that my job is critical in helping students see how important science and engineering is in their futures. Using the new knowledge gained from the SEPT program, I feel more ready to share with my classes what scientists and engineers are actually doing today! I think that many students will be surprised (when viewing my presentations) that many of the scientists and engineers were quite young and many were female! I am certain that it is here, in the middle, where it is essential to do all I can to capture their interest in the world around them and encourage them to sustain it through their high school years and into college. I am looking forward to finding ways to incorporate my new knowledge into my classes this fall.

Meeting other professionals with a passion for learning and teaching was another benefit of attending this workshop. How surprising that we all shared similar concerns about our profession, students, parents and colleagues no matter our geographic location, socio-economic status of our schools or grade levels we teach! One evening, while sitting on the roof of McCormick Hall, several of us shared ideas about after-school clubs and the ideas were flying as fast as photons! I am certain that we will continue to stay in touch throughout the year!

I am looking forward to returning again next year either to volunteer my time as a host or as a NEST participant.

Thanks again for your support of this incredible program!

Sincerely,
Mary Patterson
Dept Chair of Science Grades 6-8
Hamilton Middle School
CyFair ISD           

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2005 Winner, Anne Mangas Smith, James E. Bay Elementary School from Clear Creek ISD

July 10, 2005

Dear MIT Club of South Texas,

Many thanks for the amazing opportunity of attending the Leadership in Education Program for teachers. Spending the week in Cambridge made a profound difference in my perspective as an educator and educational leader.

My "drink from a fire hose" was more like a sip from a Tsunami! My colleagues and I had outstanding lectures and lab tours from the worlds’ foremost authorities in their areas of expertise. Every hour involved total immersion into a new topic and educational experience. The program was diverse and well organized as the professors openly and warmly welcomed dialogue from the participants. My binder of written information, CD’s, and personal notes is overflowing with valuable information and resources.

I deeply appreciated this humbling and affirming experience. Being addressed by the MIT professors was powerfully moving and insightfully enriching as they tapped into their professional passions. The professors shared their life’s work and discoveries with the visiting educators and patiently answered our questions for greater depth of understanding. Although many issues and presentations were complex, I was able to correlate the information to my curriculum in order to disseminate the concepts on my student’s level. Every moment of time was well spent and treasured as more valuable tools were shared with the participants.

The exposure of spending a week with such diverse teachers as those from Argentina, Lebanon and Germany as well as from most of our fifty states was an enriching part of the learning process. Since my return to Texas, I have already networked and conversed with a team of teachers from the Leadership in Education Program and NEST. The diversity of educational systems, procedures, and curriculum emphasis was as far reaching as the global email messages I have recently received from my fellow teachers. The lens of understanding was truly widened as I learned about global educational procedures, policies, and strategic plans. That lens continued to widen as I more clearly understood cultural diversities in the public and private schools in the United States as well as the other countries which were represented in the program.

As I reflect on the way my lens of focus was narrowed from the issues involving nanotechnology to the complexity of the wider scope and lens of global problems; I well up with a wealth of emotions of gratitude and awe. The magnitude of all that I have learned will continue to develop as I share the new knowledge with students, teachers, and family. It is my hope that I can share this drink from the cup of infinite knowledge with the same intensity of energy and passion that it was served to me.

With deepest respect and regards,

Anne Mangas Smith
National Board Certified Teacher
Clear Creek Independent School District

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2003 Winner, Andra Zoller, James E. Bay Elementary School from Clear Creek ISD

Dear MIT Club of South Texas

I have been revived, validated, and energized! The “drink from the fire hose” was a truly incredible academic experience. I was in awe of the sixty minds from around the world. I learned so much from them and am looking forward to future teamwork and collaboration.

I am amazed at how biology, chemistry, and physics have changed. I just didn’t realize how integrated the disciplines have become. This “immersion in science and engineering” has made a profound positive impact on how I will teach my young talented students. This week has opened my eyes in how to be part of a valuable team effort that helps to prepare young students for their future. It’s amazing and comforting to know how critical curiosity, exploration, and discovery are. Being the only elementary level educator in attendance, I was able to shed some light for the secondary teachers as to how and why children learn as they do and the cognitive development that this entails. In retrospect, it was so interesting to learn from the secondary teachers. It enlightened me to learn what is happening around the world. It truly was an eye-opening experience.
Now that I am a NEST alum, I am looking forward with great anticipation to future visits. The week was packed with outstanding lectures from presenters who definitely had a passion for what they are doing. The lectures flowed beautifully from one to the next, while connecting all science and engineering disciplines. It was so refreshing to observe a group of experts that truly love what they are doing.

I came away from MIT being energized about what I love to do, validated for teaching science, technology, and mathematics in an inquiry based program, while putting my students first, and revived that what I am doing is “right on target” and “on the cutting edge.” In fact, I absorbed so much like a sponge that my brain hurts. All in all, I would have to admit that having the golden opportunity to meet and work with the sixty educators was an earth shattering experience. I am looking forward to keeping in touch with these “Who’s Who in Science and Math Education” minds with unbelievable “character.”

.… Please accept my deep gratitude for this experience. One more thing, when I received the letter in the mail, I couldn’t open it. This is the first award that I have ever applied for. I held the envelope up to the kitchen window trying to read it through the sunlight, as if I was Lucille Ball. Remember the infamous “candy episode?” Well, that’s how I felt all week. I felt like Lucille Ball on the candy factory assembly line and didn’t want to miss a thing while absorbing everything in sight. Finally, I couldn’t take the suspense any longer and painstakingly sliced the envelope open and read its contents. My friend told me that she heard me scream all the way to her house. I was so elated that I called my husband on the golf course. He had just gotten a hole in one. Imagine that…some things are just meant to be.

With Warmest Regards,
Andra L. Zoller NEST ‘03
Gifted Education Specialist
James F. Bay Elementary
Clear Creek ISD

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- Ed Rinehart
 
(You can support LEAP by joining the MIT Club!  Click here for a membership / LEAP Contribution Coupon)

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