The Presidential Award is the highlight of my teaching career. It demonstrates that a love for learning can be rewarded. Taking things apart and figuring out how they work led me to a love for science, and I want to show my students that curiosity leads to learning. This award also shows that our leaders in Washington have focused on math and science for our future. It is critical that students learn to wonder about things and then use critical thinking skills to explore for themselves.

Melinda Storey Mountain Brook, AL | K-6, Science, 2008

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

Melinda Storey has served as the gifted specialist at Mountain Brook Elementary School since 1991. She has spent most of her 32-year career teaching various grade levels in Alabama schools, and she has also taught in Georgia and Tennessee. Although Mrs. Storey teaches all subjects, she focuses heavily on science and mathematics. She runs a pullout program for the third through sixth grades, leads activities in second grade classes, and provides enrichment materials and resources for kindergarten through sixth grade teachers. She finds fun and interactive ways to challenge her students to learn, taking a hands-on approach. She takes students on field trips and offers them a range of technologies with which to experiment. Parents appreciate the high expectations she has for their children and the variety of activities she leads that require students to use higher-order thinking skills. In 2002 Mrs. Storey traveled to Machu Picchu, Peru, and the Galápagos Islands and developed a curriculum about the Incas and Galápagos species. She has written various education magazine articles as well as a book based on her study of volcanoes in Hawaii. From 2002 to 2008, Mrs. Storey was Assistant Director of the Junior United Nations Assembly of Alabama. She has presented at the National Association for Gifted Children Conference and Alabama Science Teachers Conference. Mrs. Storey received the 2006 Mountain Brook City Schools Performance Award and has won grants from Toyota, Teaching Physics with Toys, and the Alabama Gifted Council. She has been awarded a total of 17 grants worth more than $58,000 collectively. Mrs. Storey has a B.S. in speech and drama and an M.A. in gifted education from the University of Alabama. She also has a B.S. in elementary education from Georgia Southwestern State University. She is a National Board Certified Middle Childhood Generalist and is also certified in elementary education.

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