To receive the Presidential Award would be a humbling experience. I consider it an honor to be recognized alongside the most highly respected educators our country has to offer. As a science teacher and educational leader, I have had the ability to not only mold students and help them find their niche in science, but also nurture new teachers. The PAEMST award serves to inspire new and veteran teachers to reach new heights in their teaching. To be an awardee would truly be awe inspiring.

Rebecca McLelland-Crawley Perth Amboy, NJ | 7-12, Science, 2011

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

Rebecca McLelland-Crawley has been a science educator for 15 years. She has spent the past 12 years at Perth Amboy High School where she currently teaches Biology, Marine Science, and Advanced Placement Environmental Science. Rebecca also taught at William C. McGinnis School in Perth Amboy. Field trips, authentic investigations, and technology play key roles in her instructional strategies. Through a service learning project, her students adopted a local pond and restored the habitat with a $700,000 Green Acres Grant. Her students also teach environmental stewardship to elementary students. Rebecca is past president of the Biology Teachers Association of New Jersey and has presented at numerous conferences on topics such as professional learning communities, the flipped classroom, bioscience career awareness, and the New Jersey science curriculums. She has also contributed to curriculum projects on stem cells, ecology, and the genetics of breast cancer. In 2005, Rebecca was recognized as Teacher of the Year for Perth Amboy High School and named the New Jersey Phi Delta Kappa/Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year. Rebecca has a B.A. in biology from Kean University and an M.S.Ed. from Walden University, where she is currently a doctoral candidate. She is a National Board Certified Teacher.

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