Regional Meetings Committee Report, Fall 2016

Frank J. Creegan (fcreegan2@washcoll.edu): 2016 Co-Chair
Marty Perry (perrym@obu.edu): 2016 Co-Chair

The Regional Meetings Committee (RMC) is charged by the Division to:

1. Provide oversight of the ACS Division of Chemical Education Region Awards, which includes the development and maintenance of Award Guidelines, participation in the selection and presentation of the Region Awards,
2. Insure that a Chemical Education Program is part of each Regional Meeting, and
3. Promote the purpose and work of the ACS Division of Chemical Education.

RMC is pleased to outline in this NEWSLETTER Report recent efforts to address its charge.

• 2016 ACS Division of Chemical Education Region Awardees for Excellence in High School Teaching, VOLUME 1:

Seven of the ten ACS Regions will hold meetings in 2016 providing opportunities to recognize and reward excellence in the teaching of high school chemistry.  RMC is pleased to report on the following three region Awards presented in Spring 2016. 

The 47th ACS Central Regional Meeting
May 18-21, 2016, Covington, KY

The winner of the 2016 Division of Chemical Education Central Region Award
for Excellence in High School Teaching is Alice Puttifrom Jenison High School in Jenison, MI.

Alice Putti graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, with a B.S. Chemistry/Secondary Education Certification in 1994, followed by a M. Ed Secondary Education degree from Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan, in 2000.  She has been teaching Chemistry at Jenison High School, Jenison, Michigan, for the past 20 years.  She founded and continues to lead the West Michigan Chemistry Teachers Association, comprised of chemistry teachers in her area.   This professional learning community collaborates with each other and shares ideas and strategies for teaching and learning.   Alice works closely with the College Board, serving as a workshop consultant, free response exam writer, question leader and test reader.  She has multiple publications and presentations:  Conference Presentations in 2012 and 2014 at BCCE (Biennial Conference on Chemical Education) and in 2013 at MSTA (Michigan Science Teachers Association); led a webinar for American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT), October 2014 “Cookbook to Inquiry:  Strategies to revise traditional cookbook labs into guided inquiry activities;” A teacher’s Workshop at PITTCON 2016 and in Pittsburgh at a Society of Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh meeting in 2013; publications in JCE and Science Teacher.  In addition to her teaching assignments, she founded and sponsored since 2014 Girls in STEM Club, an outreach program of the local high school and elementary school.  She also coaches for Science Olympiad.

The 44th ACS Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting
June 9-12, 2016, Riverdale, NY
The winner of the 2016 Division of Chemical Education Middle Atlantic Region Award
 for Excellence in High School Teaching is
Mary Calvert from The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, NJ.

Mary Calvert attended The University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana earning a B.S. in Chemistry. After working in industry for a couple of years she went back to school and earned a master's in Chemistry from Princeton University. Calvert taught at the College of New Jersey before teaching at The Lawrenceville School where she has taught for the last 18 years. Calvert holds Lawrenceville’s Oscar H. McPherson ’01 Distinguished Teaching Chair. In addition to her duties in the science department, Calvert is the Housemaster of Kirby House and coaches the Kirby House Frisbee, volleyball, and basketball teams. She also co-coaches the Science and Robotics club, which enters about a dozen competitions a year. Calvert has served as a member of the following Lawrenceville committees: Selection of a New Headmaster, Health and Wellness Initiatives, Crescent Initiative: New Crescent House and Student Center, Coeducation, Review and Propose New Athletic Requirements, Student Leadership, and the Quarter Century Society. In 2012, she received Lawrenceville's Henry C. Woods Faculty Award for Service to the School and in 2000 she was honored with the School's Ritter Award for Fostering a Nurturing Academic Environment. Calvert has also chaperoned Lawrenceville International Programs trips to Austria, Cuba, and Germany.

The 71st ACS Northwest Regional Meeting
June 26-29, 2016, Anchorage, AK
The winner of the 2016 Division of Chemical Education Glenn & Jane Crosby
Northwest Region Award for Excellence in High School Chemistry Teaching is
James (Jamie) Yoos from Bellingham High School in Bellingham, WA.

Jamie Yoos is a Quantitative Chemistry, AP Chemistry, and Applied Anatomy and Physiology teacher at Bellingham High School in Bellingham, WA where he has worked for the past 13 of his 18-year teaching tenure.  Jamie graduated with honors from Warren Wilson College in 1990 with degrees in biology and chemistry.  After working as a chemist for a biotech company in Seattle, Jamie found his true passion in teaching and pursued a graduate degree in science education from the University of Rochester.  He is a National Board Certified teacher.

Jamie believes in making science education accessible to all students.  He has worked to develop curriculum that adjusts to his students’ interests and needs.  He actively incorporates “hands on” inquiry and technology to empower his students in their learning.  Jamie believes in meeting his students “where they are in their understanding,” and helps them to make connections between scientific principles and what they are seeing in their world.  He helps students to move past the fear of failure and focus on the learning rather than a score.  Jamie seeks out opportunities to teach in a variety of settings, and can often be found with a group of his anatomy and physiology students working the sidelines of athletic events teaching athletic injury prevention, assessment and rehabilitation. Jamie is also active at the regional and state level, serving as a Washington State Science Fellow, helping his district with the transition to the new Washington State Science Learning Standards (NGSS).

• Finalists for the Spring 2016 ACS Division of Chemical Education Region Awards for Excellence in High School Teaching:

In 2014 RMC began the practice of using the CHED Newsletter to recognize all nominees for the Region Award for Excellence in High School Teaching and the schools at which they teach.  In the tables below we list each Region Award, the 2016 Recipient, and all those whose complete nomination portfolios came before the Region Awards Committees. 

2.  Chemical Education Programming at Regional Meetings:
RMC continues to work with organizing committees for Regional Meetings early on in the planning process to not only encourage Chemical Education programming but to also volunteer to organize symposia, general sessions, or poster sessions.  Recent efforts have led to additional programming at NORM-2016, and NERM-2016. Attention is now directed toward expansion of the Chemical Education programming at the seven regional meetings planned for 2017.
3.  Promotion of ACS Division of Chemical Education through Regional Meetings:
RMC continues its joint project with the New Members Committee involving the design, preparation, and display of a poster that describes, using text and images, the mission and activities of the Division of Chemical Education.  The poster is displayed by the DivCHED Representative, at each of the Regional Meetings, in a formal poster session and/or in the Registration area.  The poster serves as a device to disseminate information about Division and to recruit new members to the Division. The poster is under revision and will include new text and images from the 2016 BCCE and Spring 2016 Regional Meetings.