Beth Jewell – Outstanding Classroom Teacher Award
The Outstanding classroom Teacher Award is given for effective and innovative classroom teaching at any level. Only NMEA members are eligible, and active participation in NMEA is an important consideration for this award.
Beth is a teacher of Oceanography and Honors Biology at West Springfield High, Fairfax County Schools, Springfield, Virginia. Her outstanding classroom teaching is enhanced by her regular travels around the world. Her journeys include the Galapagos Islands, Japan (with the Fulbright Memorial Fund Master Teacher Program), and sea voyages with the Maury Project, NOAA Teacher at Sea, and the Armada Project. Beth uses her experiences to enrich student learning through web pages and creative lessons, and shares her expertise with colleagues at NSTA and NMEA.
Beth meets the highest standards of excellence in the teaching profession and has won numerous state, regional, and national honors for teaching, including an Einstein Fellowship, two Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science and Math, Mid-Atlantic Marine Education Association’s (MAMEA) Classroom Teacher Award, Radio Shack Teacher Award, Classroom Connect’s Internet Educator of the Year, Gifted & Talented Teacher of the Year, and the Phi Delta Kappa Technology in the Classroom Award.
Beth has served as secretary for NMEA since 2006 and was a Board member from 2004 to 2006. She was the National Science Teachers Association District 8 Director from 2003 to 2006 representing Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia, and she currently serves as the NSTA Liaison to NMEA. In addition, Beth has served as president of MAMEA, authored articles for the Bulletin of American Meteorological Society, developed curricular materials for NOAA, supervised student teachers, and written proposals for activities such as a mole crab monitoring project. Ongoing responsibilities include mentoring elementary teachers in her school district, involving her students in instructional activities with elementary students, implementing curriculum for “Water in the Earth Systems,” directing an oceanography day camp, authoring online course materials, and serving as her school’s technology specialist.
Beth is also well known for her work in developing and implementing the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts, and the related scope and sequence flow diagrams to help teachers integrate ocean concepts. On the Ocean Literacy website, she offers a teacher’s perspective on how to use the Ocean Literacy Principles in preparing lessons, and she is the lead author of an article in The Science Teacher titled “The Need for Ocean Literacy Institute’s “Ocean Today Kiosk” with the Ocean Literacy Principles.
One of Beth’s students said, “Ms. Jewell brings each lesson to life with her enthusiasm and depth of knowledge. On a day-to-day basis, Biology class became more than a lesson out of a textbook, it came alive as conversations moved into the real world where the fascinating and unusual spurred questions and fueled the desire to learn and understand the world we live in.” Beth’s colleagues added, “Bottle and market her passion for science, motivation for professional development, and dedication to providing her students with unique hands-on experiences and you have the magic potion for inspiring all children to be scientists.”
NMEA News Volume 26, Issue 3 Fall 2010 p. 8-9