Science teacher wins nation's highest honor
Barb Andersen, a sixth-grade teacher at Peterson School in Kalispell, received the nation's highest honor for elementary science teachers in Washington, D.C., this week.
Andersen won Montana's 2004 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching at the elementary level.
Established by Congress in 1983 and administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation, the award carries a $10,000 grant.
Polson teacher Julie Duford, who teaches at Cherry Valley Elementary School, won the state's presidential award for mathematics teaching.
In a rare dual nomination from a single school, Andersen's colleague at Peterson, second-grade teacher Joy Javorka, also was a Montana finalist for the presidential awards.
They were among 239 finalists nationally and 95 elementary and middle-school teachers who received the presidential awards.
Andersen said she tries to make science lessons relevant to local life - asking students to compare insulation materials and determine which would make the warmest mittens, for example.
"Children are naturally curious and science itself can be a great motivator," Andersen said in her application.
They are self-motivated learners, she believes, but grabbing their interest is essential to learning.
"As a teacher, once I light the fire to pique their interest, I get out of the way to let them learn. When children discover something on their own it sticks with them much longer."
This isn't Andersen's first recognition.
In October 2003, Andersen was named the Montana Science Teachers Association's Elementary Science Teacher of the Year. Flathead High School science department head Tom Morstein nominated her for that honor.
Morstein had cited Andersen's work with classroom parent Eve Dixon and Glacier National park tech specialist Bill Hayden to develop an online electronic field trip that, for four years, connected classrooms across the United States with park specialists.
He also commended her work with Texas Instruments, for which she wrote programs for science and graphing calculators and gave presentations at gatherings across the nation.
Andersen also is known for making science fun with Mole Day, celebrating the measure of weight in chemistry, and Pi Day, when students gobble up tiny chocolate pies on March 14 (3/14) at 1:59 p.m. to mark the value of pi - 3.14159.
But in her 18 years spent teaching at Peterson School, Andersen has been quick to point out that none of her accomplishments could have been achieved without teamwork and cooperation among her teaching colleagues.
Javorka, a close associate of Andersen's, made it into the final round of consideration for the national math honor.
In her application, she said her role in the classroom is to facilitate learning through creating a positive learning environment.
"I teach by giving my students opportunities to reach their full potential for learning," Javorka said, "and helping them to be as self-sufficient and self-directed as they can."
Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com