To receive the Presidential Award during President Obama's term in office is among the greatest honors I could hope for as an educator. I'm happy to accept the award as a tribute to my students' accomplishments and as recognition of their hard work and willingness to go beyond typical expectations. I'm also humbled to accept this award on behalf of so many excellent teachers that work tirelessly for their students but do not receive the recognition they deserve.

John Constantinou Kea'au, HI | 7-12, Science, 2009

The official biography below was current at the time of the award.

John Constantinou has been teaching high school science for 13 years. For the past 8 years, he has been at Kea'au High School. Prior to that, he spent 5 years at Farrington High School. John uses a variety of teaching approaches to establish a safe learning community where students are not afraid to participate and succeed; he loves to hear students laugh while they learn. John has mentored numerous students for the Hawaii State Science Fair, and he coached two teams for the Science Olympiad. He has taught Advanced Placement Biology, Honors Biology, Biology, ESLL Biology, Human Anatomy, Physical Science, Marine Science, Chemistry, and Technical Education. He has developed curriculums for marine education for the Oceanic Institute and served as Science Department Chair. John is the adviser for an environmental school club that has worked on beach clean-ups, school-wide recycling, a compact fluorescent lightbulb exchange, and alternative energy projects. John began his career working in oceanography. He has published several papers in science journals and has participated in a dozen oceanographic research cruises, including trips to Antarctica, the Equatorial Pacific, and the Arabian Sea. John has a B.S. in Marine Science from Hawai'i Loa College and an M.S. in Biological Oceanography from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

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