The Presidential Award is the ultimate science teacher recognition and it will literally open countless doors of opportunities within my school district, state, and Nation. This stellar honor gives me an invitation to learn and collaborate with the premier educators in science and mathematics across the country. It also allows me to share my own innovative environmental education programs for reconnecting students, teachers, and communities with one another and their natural world.

James Jordan Boise, ID | 7-12, Science, 2011

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

James Jordan has been an educator for 31 years and has spent the last 14 years teaching Advanced Placement (AP) and regular environmental science and biology courses at Timberline High School. He has also taught various science classes at Boise High School and Jerome High School. James is extremely passionate about science and about getting his students outside. He helped write Idaho’s Environmental Literacy Plan and introduced the Boise School District’s curriculum for regular and AP environmental science. Over the years, James has received many grants and awards, including the Siemens AP Teacher Award and the Governor’s Industry Award for Notable Teaching in Science. He serves on the Idaho Environmental Education Association’s board of directors and is past president of the Idaho Science Teachers Association. In 1990, James created TREE (or, Teens Reconnecting to Earth Experiences), an outdoor club network and, later, OutsideDay.org as ways to overcome nature deficit disorder. His article on this topic was recently published in the Journal of Educational Research. His innovative programs include EcoCaching, OurShed, TalkingOut, and LifeOutdoors. James has a B.S. in biology from Idaho State University and an M.S.Ed. from Walden University. He is certified in grades 7-12 natural sciences and Spanish.

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