The Presidential Award is incredible and extremely humbling. It represents all the individuals who have guided me throughout my teaching career. It credits those who taught me to always keep students first, leading them to discoveries through their curiosity, and challenging them to always think and take ownership of their learning. It validates that it is okay to relinquish control to the students. Innovative science is an act of doing, rather than sitting and learning.

Brandi Leggett Shawnee, KS | K-6, Science, 2014

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

Brandi Leggett is currently an instructional coach at Rosehill Elementary School in Lenexa, KS. Prior to that, she taught third grade for six years at Prairie Ridge Elementary School in Shawnee, KS, and fifth grade for three years at Fox Chase Elementary School in Philadelphia, PA. Brandi is on Rosehill Elementary's leadership team and serves on the Shawnee Mission School District Science Curriculum Development Team. She regularly presents on innovative ways to make the Next Generation Science Standards relevant to students through project-based learning. Her third graders were named the national winners in the 2015 DuPont Science Competition for their project on natural disasters. Brandi’s awards include Kansas Regional Teacher of the Year, Unified School District 232 Teacher of the Year, Major League Soccer Works Community MVP, Veteran of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year, PBS Lead Teacher Innovator, Fox 4 Crystal Apple Award, ING Unsung Hero, Kansas Learning Forward Impact Award, and Philadelphia Phillies Teacher All-Star. Brandi Leggett has a B.S., cum laude, in sports management from Temple University and a M.Ed., summa cum laude, in elementary education from Arcadia University. She is a certified elementary school teacher, middle school language arts teacher, and K–12 teacher leader. Brandi is a National Board Certified Middle Childhood Generalist.

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