The Dee Howard Foundation STEM Education Excellence Award (SEEA) 2019
Event Date 4 April, 2019 (Nominations by 1 Dec.)
On October 6, 2018, The Dee Howard Foundation announced The Dee Howard Foundation STEM Education Excellence Award (SEEA) to recognize Pre-K thru 12 STEM teachers and administrators and to help incorporate aviation and aerospace subject matter in STEM programs primality focused on underserved students in the San Antonio Area.
The SEEA will be presented at the San Antonio Aviation and Aerospace Hall of Fame 2019 Awards Dinner on April 4, 2019.
Further details concerning the school districts and schools eligible to submit nominations and the nomination procedures can be accessed through the links on this webpage.
The Hall of Fame is open to the public. Individual tickets may be purchased online (to be announced), sponsor information is available by by contacting Christina Martinez at (210) 758-3435 or
Letter
Letter to Superintendents 2019
The Dee Howard Foundation is an organization dedicated to fostering aviation and aerospace in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (S.T.E.M.) in Pre-K through 12 education programs primarily in schools in the greater San Antonio area whose students are from underserved areas of our community. In the 2017-2018 academic year, our inaugural year for the SEEA, we focused on middle schools in the greater San Antonio area and selected Mr. Randall Ohman of The Judson STEM Academy as the recipient of this award. This year, all elementary schools with high-need students in Bexar County are eligible to submit nominations for the 2019 SEEA. In future years we will expand the eligibility to include programs in grades 9-12 as well.
In the spirit of supporting those on the “front lines” of S.T.E.M. education, we request your assistance in distributing this letter and the other information we will forward to you concerning the SEEA to the principal of each elementary school in your district that meets the criteria below. The principal of each qualifying elementary school may submit one nomination for the 2019 SEEA. The nominee must:
- Be an individual who excels at teaching or overseeing the S.T.E.M. curriculum in the qualifying elementary school, and
- Should exhibit the character traits consistent with a respected educator in the community.
- Should a nominee from your school district be selected by The Dee Howard Foundation (DHF) as this year’s Honoree, the Honoree, the Honoree’s school, and your school district will receive the following benefits:
The Honoree will be announced in January 2019 and the SEEA will be presented to the Honoree at the San Antonio Aviation and Aerospace Hall of Fame 2019 Awards Dinner to be held on 4 April 2019 at the GDC Technics Hangar at Port San Antonio. For details about the 2019 Hall of Fame we invite you to visit http://www.deehoward.org/saahof-2019-dinner.
The Honoree’s name will appear in the 2019 Hall of Fame program brochure, and their photograph and biography will be posted on The Dee Howard Foundation website;
The Honoree will be presented with a framed certificate during the 2019 Hall of Fame Awards Dinner;
- A table of 10 will be reserved at the 2019 Hall of Fame, and seated at that table will be the Honoree, the principal from the Honoree’s school, the superintendent of the school district of the Honoree or their designated representative, and students from the Honoree’s school;
- The Dee Howard Foundation will award a grant of $1,000.00 for use by the Honoree’s school to fund a field trip(s) to destinations to be selected by the Honoree from a list of locations approved by The Dee Howard Foundation; and
- The Honoree will be added to The Dee Howard Foundation School Network to be included in all DHF School Network mailings and be eligible to participate in other designated program activities.
To nominate an educator, the principal of the school should complete the attached nomination form, and compile a formal letter of recommendation on official school letterhead, then return the package to:
Dr. W. Sean Kearney, Chair, SEEA Selection Committee, via
Nominations must be received by December 1, 2018, to be eligible for the award. If you have any questions concerning the event, the SEEA, or the nomination process, please email or call Sean Kearney at (210) 784-2528.
We thank you and all of the members of the team in your school district for the great work you are doing to provide the young men and women in our community with the confidence and skills to be successful in an increasingly technological world. We look forward to receiving nominations from the principals of qualifying schools in your district, and to providing well-deserved recognition to S.T.E.M. educators in the greater San Antonio area.
Sincerely,
W. Sean Kearney Chair, SEEA Selection Committee
Honorees
Lisa Rollins, 2019 SEEA Honoree
Lisa Rollins, is a Science Academic Support Teacher (AST) at Cody Elementary School in Northside ISD (NISD). Ms. Rollins started her teaching career in Judson ISD in 1983. She joined NISD as an early childhood educator in Pre-K and Kindergarten in 1998 at Howsman Elementary School. She became the Science AST at Cody Elementary School in 2009.
Cody Principal Kittiya Johnson first met Ms. Rollins over 15 years ago at Howsman as a first-year administrator. “Lisa was a kindergarten teacher and I loved visiting her classroom,” she said. “Our youngest students were so happy learning through the fun and engaging activities she planned. In addition to being an early childhood education expert, she possesses strong writing, math, and science knowledge and skills, so when a position for an Academic Support Teacher became available at Cody Elementary to address poor performances in those content areas, we were fortunate that she applied for the job,” Johnson adds.
“Lisa creates vibrant and effective ‘hands-on’ science labs complete with living plants and animals,” Johnson explains. “Her classroom came alive with student-scientists, gerbils rolling around in their traveling balls, and insects living in student-made habitats. In less than one year, student academic performance at Cody Elementary improved dramatically after Lisa joined the faculty.”
At Cody, besides bringing her unique skill set of creating another engaging science lab, Rollins added a STEM lab in an adjacent room. Both labs are rich in resources, including a pond with live fish, habitats for various insects, reptiles, fossils, mice, a guinea pig, and much more. She also creates habitats outside the classroom so students can see “real” environments firsthand.
“Lisa’s efforts have had a positive impact on student learning at Cody,” Johnson said. “Our campus now leads the District in improved science scores on district and state assessments for campuses with similar demographics.”
As evidence of her creativity, one student said, “Recently, we were able to recreate how archeologists lit up the insides of Egyptian tombs using reflected light,” says Brian Sullens, a fifth-grade student at Cody. “Mrs. Rollins broke our science class into small groups, and gave each group a model cardboard tomb and a handful of other materials, and told us to construct a system for lighting the interior of the tomb.”
One of Rollins’ accomplishments has been the creation and expansion of a girls-only STEM Summer Camp called STEM Sisters. Not only do these young ladies participate in engaging STEM challenges, but they are visited every day by female professionals working in a STEM field. The impact of this program on getting girls interested in the STEM field has resulted in it being expanded to 11 additional elementary and middle school campuses in the district.
Another successful project by Ms. Rollins is the implementation of the Project ACORN grant on the campus. The purpose of this project is to bring native plants into neighborhoods and to educate the community about the environment. Rollins has cultivated strong partnerships with many local, state, and national environmental science associations. She oversaw the construction of a campus butterfly and wildflower garden. In the years to come, her vision is to expand the garden into a neighborhood botanical center.
“Mrs. Rollins taught me a respect for all living things and inspired me to start my own garden at home,” Sullens said.
As if she doesn’t have enough to do, she also is involved with or serves as the coach for the campus’ LEGO Robotics Club, Young Astronauts (astronautics), Flight Club (aeronautics), and the campus Solar Car team.
Ms. Rollins holds both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University.) She was the NISD Nominee for the Trinity Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2015, Campus Teacher of the Year for Cody Elementary in 2015, and Campus Teacher of the Year for Howsman Elementary in 2008.
Angela Ortiz Pichardo, 2019 SEEA Honoree
Angela Ortiz Pichardo is the STEM/Aeronautics/Aviation teacher at Bob Hope Elementary in Southwest ISD (SWISD). She is a UTSA graduate with a Bachelors in Criminal Justice and Bilingual-Bicultural Studies and has earned her Masters in Integrating Technology Curriculum and Instruction from Walden University. She is also in her first year of Walden’s Doctorate Leadership program.
Ms. Pichardo spearheaded the establishment of the Bob Hope Young Eagles Club three years ago which is one of the first PreK – 5th Grade full campus Aviation Clubs at the elementary level in the San Antonio area. Ms. Picardo was selected by The Dee Howard Foundation (DHF) and SWISD to be the first teacher in the San Antonio area to implement the DHF/Blue Sky Educational Foundation elementary school aeronautical STEM curriculum and to serve as a resource to other teachers and administrators in other schools, both within and outside of SWISD, in their evaluation and implementation of that curriculum. She coordinates and leads many Young Eagles events and has had her students participate in Aviation and Aeronautics endeavors from Kinder to 5th grade. She develops and trains groups of students with activities, which include field trips, hands-on projects, and real-life experiences that lead to career pathways and goals. Some of those activities have included her students participating in the EAA Young Eagles Rally in which her students were able to take airplane rides at Stinson Airport, indoor skydiving at iFly, and she leads a group of students to the annual UT-Austin Girls in Engineering each year. Ms. Pichardo was selected as a recipient of the 2018 H.E.B. Excellence in Education Award for Outstanding Teachers in the State of Texas and was also recognized as one of the top teachers in San Antonio through the Go Public, KSAT 12 Cool Schools in San Antonio.
This year, Ms. Pichardo was awarded two major grants from the Southwest ISD Foundation, along with five others in the past three years. This year, the 5th-grade students will be participating in the San Antonio STEM Education Center, along with a field trip to the Scobee Planetarium. The second award will be used to begin a Jet Propulsion class with the goal to work with local companies and private and public sector institutions to structure activities that will allow for real-life experiences with Scientists in the Space programs here in San Antonio. The next goal for Ms. Pichardo is to structure an Educational program to assist students interested in all of the Aviation, Aeronautics, Aerospace, and Interplanetary travel career fields for future generations. Ms. Pichardo’s goal in all of her teaching activities is to inspire her students to achieve greatness for the sake of humanity alone, and not just for honors or praises.
School DIstricts
Eligible School Districts 2019
Principals of middle schools in the following school districts who meet the eligibility criteria are invited to submit nominations (limit one nomination per eligible school) for the 2019 SEEA.
Nomination deadline is 1 December 2018.
District
- Alamo Heights ISD
- BASIS San Antonio*
- Bexar County Academy*
- Brooks Academy of Science and Engineering*
- Carpe Diem*
- East Central ISD
- Edgewood ISD
- Eleanor Kolitz Hebrew Language Academy*
- Fort Sam Houston ISD
- George Gervin Academy*
- Great Hearts Academy*
- Harlandale ISD
- Harmony Science Academy, San Antonio*
- Henry Ford Academy
- Alameda School for Art + Design*
- Heritage Academy*
- IDEA Public Schools*
- Jubilee Academic Center*
- Judson ISD
- KIPP San Antonio*
- Lackland ISD
- Light House Charter School*
- New Frontiers Charter School*
- North East ISD
- Northside ISD
- Por Vida Academy*
- Positive Solutions Charter School*
- Premier High School, San Antonio*
- Randolph Field ISD
- San Antonio ISD
- School of Excellence in Education*
- School of Science and Technology*
- Somerset ISD
- South San Antonio ISD
- Southside ISD
- Southwest ISD
- Southwest Preparatory School*
