Award recognizes outstanding K-12 STEM and computer science teachers

Two Wichita-area teachers and one in Olathe have been named finalists for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST), the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) announced this week. 

Lindsay Croft, a fifth-grade teacher at Central Elementary School in Olathe USD 233, has been named a mathematics finalist. Shirley Rose, who teaches K-6 STEM at Christa McAuliffe Academy in Wichita USD 259 and Jena Simms, a third-grade teacher at Wichita Collegiate School, are finalists in science. 

A committee of math and science educators from across Kansas selected these educators as this year’s finalists. The selection of these outstanding teachers makes them eligible to be named a National PAEMST awardee. This award is considered the highest honor given by the U.S. government specifically for excellence in K-12 STEM and computer science education. Teachers who are named finalists and awardees have both the deep knowledge of the subjects they teach and the skill to motivate their students to be successful in STEM and computer science.  

Two teachers from each state, one in math and one in science, will be eligible to receive the national award.  Educators are selected from a panel of distinguished mathematicians, scientists and educators at the state and national levels. They will receive a certificate from the President of the United States, $10,000 from the National Science Foundation, and will be invited to an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. to be honored at the White House.