The Presidential Award for science acknowledges that what I believed was important for my students to learn is valued. Hands-on instruction to inspire and motivate students by keeping them actively engaged is how I teach science, and now the President of the United States of America is congratulating me for my efforts--a teacher from a small school of 200 students, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I could not be more honored to be an Oklahoma teacher than I am tonight. 

Patricia Reece Bokoshe, OK | K-6, Science, 2012

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

Diane Reece taught at Bokoshe Elementary for 24 years, teaching kindergarten in the mornings and fifth and sixth grade science in the afternoons for 22 years. She began her years as a teacher working with the Head Start program at Bokoshe Elementary for 11 years. Diane taught kindergarten and was codirector of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. She cowrote and directed this afterschool program for the last 10 years. Her love of teaching all ages and offering enrichment opportunities kept her motivated. Diane attended more than 150 hours of summer workshops with an emphasis on life, physical, Earth, and aerospace sciences. She served as Director and wrote Learn and Serve America grants for 6 years, during which time she led her fifth and sixth grade students to first place in the state competition for Project Citizen, supported by the Oklahoma Bar Association. One of her proudest achievements was helping her students renovate an old building and turn it into a volunteer library.  They built shelves, painted, and gathered donated books. Diane received the Oklahoma Medal of Excellence for Elementary and was chosen as a State Teacher of the Year finalist. Diane earned a B.A. and an M.Ed., both in education, from Northeastern State College. She received her National Board certification in 2001 and was recertified in 2011.

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