I finally got the email letting me know that I won the PAEMST! I found out the last day of school before Christmas break, right as my class party was starting. I was so very happy that I had a group of amazing parents that were in charge of the whole thing so I could go out in the hallway to text my family before telling anyone else about it. I ended up forwarding the email to my principal and then calling him to tell him to check his email as he was one that would constantly ask me if I had heard anything yet or not. I then went down the hall and let my 6th grade team know about it. Needless to say, everyone was very excited about it for me. My principal announced it over the intercom about fifteen minuets before the school day was over. I hadn't told my class about it at all so when he started out by just telling everyone about it and then announced that it was me, my class erupted! Of course, they also told me that I should share my money and trip with them since they were smart enough to be placed in my class this year. I still don't know when I'm going to DC, but I'm hoping it warms up a little bit more before we go.
Here is the email I received:
All,
It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been selected to receive the 2012 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. On behalf the White House, congratulations on this extraordinary accomplishment! The award recognizes the tremendous commitment you have shown to mathematics and science teaching.
An official White House press release announcing your selection was issued today and is available here.
We are in the process of organizing several days of recognition activities for you in Washington, DC. You will receive more information from the National Science Foundation once details are finalized. Your primary points of contact at NSF will be Marilyn Suiter and Elizabeth VanderPutten (copied here), but I wanted to offer my own congratulations as well.
I look forward to meeting you in DC. Congratulations again on this remarkable achievement!
Best,
Fae M. Jencks
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Executive Office of the President
Also, before Christmas break, I got an email passed along by my principal to the school that the state office was looking for teachers to help with a project to create an online and print version of a science "text book"specifically for the state of Utah. They already started the project for secondary and this year they wanted to work on 3rd-6th grade. I had to apply to help out and had to make sure that I would be available for each of the days we would be meeting to work on it over the next school year. I was curious about the process and figured, if nothing else, it would look good on my resume. I found out that they accepted me and went to the first meeting the week before break. It's an interesting process finding materials that aren't copyrighted for us to adapt for our own resource. I'm going again this week to continue with everything. It's been interesting dealing with the science book process and being gone for that along with the math book selection that I'm also involved in with my school district. Hopefully, we will be done with the math book this month so I can stay in my classroom more often.
I have a new calling in my new ward! I started attending the family ward a couple of months ago and love it! Everyone is very friendly and I'm starting to get to know the people that actually live around me. A couple of weeks ago I was asked if I would be willing to teach a primary class, the 8 and 9 year olds. I figured that I would be put in with the primary, which I was excited about as it would be a new calling that I had never done before. This Sunday I will be teaching my first lesson as I have a partner that I'll be taking turns with and helping out. Old Testament, here we come!
Steven, Randi, and their two kids came out and stayed with me for a week. They had come out for a wedding of a friend. I was so happy that I got to play with my babies for a week! I discovered the importance of choo choos while they were here and our worlds got turned upside down when I discovered the choo choo undert the bed after they left. They should be getting a small package in the next week or two to right the situation.
