Teachers are most often measured a degree removed from their efforts: if students do well, the teacher is good. The recognition for that success is almost always given to the student as a testament to their effort. The PAEMST award is a chance for teachers to show how we think and reflect without that student-effort filter and to project a more complete picture of who we are to our peers. I am proud to have been judged so highly by colleagues who know the effort I put forth every day for my students.

Eric Grunden Raleigh, NC | 7-12, Science, 2011

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

Eric Grunden teaches Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry, Honors Enriched Chemistry, and an astronomy course that he developed at Raleigh Charter High School. His 12 years at Raleigh Charter High School were preceded by 6 years of teaching middle and high school science at Rockdale County High School in Conyers, GA, and P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School in Gainesville, FL. At his current school, he has also served as the Science Department Chair for 7 years, and he chairs the Technology Committee. Eric is a regular presenter of his classroom activities at state and national science conferences. He is a member of the National Science Teachers’ Association Committee on High School Science Teaching and has served as a reader for the AP Chemistry exam. In 2008, he took a 1-year sabbatical appointment as the Education Director of the Contemporary Science Center (CSC), an education nonprofit he helped found, which has served thousands of students from across North Carolina since its inception. Eric is using that experience to open and head a science and mathematics-focused charter high school in North Carolina in fall 2012. Eric has a B.S. in chemistry and an M.Ed. in secondary science education from the University of Florida. He is certified in chemistry and general science.

Know a great teacher like Eric Grunden?