Winners RI 2006

Howard Chun
Cranston High School East
Cranston, Rhode Island

Howard Chun spent seven years as an aerospace engineer before earning his Ed.M. at Harvard in 1993. His dynamic classroom blends a traditional lecture format with student-centered projects. In his eleven years of teaching science at Cranston High School, he has expanded the department to include a physics II class that completes astronomical research via the National Optical Astronomical Observatories (NOAO). As someone who has studied advanced physics and math at Stanford and has also designed satellites, Chun knows the value of science put into action. His students design roller coasters to learn about energy. They observe the moon for an entire semester and then relay their findings via poem, graphic novel, play or lab report.

 
 

Jennifer L. Jendzejec
Washington Oak School
Coventry, Rhode Island

Jennifer Jendzejecs’s third grade classes encounter science throughout their daily curriculum. Students write poems about science concepts in their poetry anthologies. Each unit of study comes complete with a book bag filled with books related to the topic, a toy or stuffed animal, and a hands-on activity for families. Jendzejec includes families in the classroom to inspire her children and show them that science is a vital part of real life. Every unit culminates in a family celebration planned by the students; they have produced health fairs, plays about pollution, and museums complete with student docents. “Students are naturally curious about the world around them, and it is my job to bring that to the forefront,” says Jendzejec, who has been teaching science for nine years.