Recently, SPARK Academy teacher Jennifer Kennedy traveled to Washington, D.C., with superintendent Beth Patton and former SPARK Academy principal Beth McKinney to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

“Congrats to Mrs. Jennifer Kennedy, SPARK at Cowart Elementary STEM Specialist and Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching awardee!” Athens City Schools said in a statement.

According to the school system, Kennedy was celebrated at the PAEMST Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C., where she received a special certificate signed by President Biden and attended various recognition events.

The PAEMST awards are among the nation’s highest honor of distinction for K-12 mathematics, science, technology, engineering and computer science educators.

“Kennedy was selected to receive this honor for her excellence in science teaching and dedication to STEM education,” said Athens City Schools.

The award is the highest recognition a k-12 math or science teacher can receive in the United States for teaching excellence. The recognition was enacted by congress in 1983.

Awards are given to science, technology, engineering, mathematics and/or computer science teachers from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Department of Defense Education Activity schools or the U.S. territories as a group.

The President can bestow awards upon as many as 108 teachers per year.

More than 5,200 teachers have been recognized for their contributions in the classroom and to their profession since the program’s inception.

“This is a Presidential Recognition for Excellence in Science Teaching. Each year the group … (accepts) nominations and submissions from teachers at the state level. The state chooses finalists in both science and math. and then those finalists’ applications are sent to the national level where they choose one recipient in science and one recipient in math,” said Jennifer Kennedy, the award recipient from the SPARK Academy.

She also explained that they alternate years, so that one year is kindergarten through sixth grade and the next year is a teacher from seventh through 12th grade.

“So, they recognize both elementary and secondary teachers in math and science,” she said.

According to PAEMST, honorees must:

• teach science, technology, engineering, mathematics and/or computer science as part of their contracted teaching responsibilities at the K-6 grade level in a public (including charter) or private school;
• hold at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution;
• be full-time employees of the school or school district, as determined by state and district policies, with responsibilities for teaching students no less than 50 percent of the school’s allotted instructional time;
• have at least five years of full-time employment as a K-12 teacher prior to the 2021-2022 academic school year during which science, technology, engineering, mathematics and/or computer science has been a part of the applicant’s teaching duties each of the five years;
• teach in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Department of Defense Education Activity schools, or the U.S. territories as a group;
• be U.S. citizens or permanent residents; and
• not have received the PAEMST award at the national level in any prior competition or category.

“For me, it’s its affirmation. It affirms that what we do in Athens City Schools is not only what’s best for students but is also on the cutting edge when compared to schools around the country,” said Kennedy.

She said Athens’ STEM-focused Academy is a place that teachers are encouraged to educate students with problem solving and or projects applications for science and social studies curriculum.

“We are truly leading the pack,” said Kennedy.

The most impactful part of the honor for Kennedy was the support of Patton and McKinney.

“For me, the best part of this honor was the fact that our superintendent Beth Patton and my principal Dr. Beth McKinney, were able to come out to Washington when I received my award,” she said.

Having the encouragement of the school district and her school building was special.

“To know that I have the support from our administration to do new and different things in my classroom and to try things is just unheard of in other places,” Kennedy said. “So, I’m really, really grateful to be in Athens City, and now I know that sounds like a Miss America speech but it’s 100 percent from the heart.”

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