TWO TEACHERS HONORED BY SEAGATE FOR WORK IN SCIENCE EDUCATION
Minneapolis/St.
Paul,
Minn. — March
22, 2006 — Long before the recent push to close science and math
achievement gaps for students, two Minnesota science teachers were reaching
above and beyond to leave no child behind —
especially in math and science. Rachel Peterson, from St.
Helena Catholic School in Minneapolis,
and David Bosma, from Alden,
Minnesota’s high school, recently
were honored with the Seagate Mentor award for their efforts in promoting
science education by encouraging and supporting students’ hands-on experience
outside of the classroom.
Introduced four years ago, the Seagate Mentor award,
sponsored by Seagate Technology, provides an annual, statewide recognition for
teachers who have mentored student participants in the Minnesota Academy of
Science State Fairs. Two awards are presented — one for a teacher with one to 10 years of teaching experience and
the second for a teacher with 11 or more years of experience. Seagate Mentor
award winners receive a plaque and $1,000, and their respective schools receive
a plaque and $1,000 for the science department.
“These
awards are distinctive because it is the students who nominate the teachers,”
said Gary Alexander, program director of the Minnesota Academy of Science. “It
shows that these teachers are greatly impacting students’ interest in science
education. These two teachers, through their devotion to science education, are
excellent examples of how to help students get all they can out of school.”
For the last two years, Peterson has been mentoring
science students at St. Helena
Catholic School.
This year, as the middle school’s only science teacher, she supervised more
than 60 projects for the school’s science fair. She sent seven first place
winners to the regional science fair level, where three of them were selected
to compete at state. According to Alexander, it was obvious to the Seagate
Mentor award committee that St. Helena has a
gem of a science teacher with Peterson.
With Bosma, it’s been 12 years of mentoring. His
science students at Alden-Conger
High School received
hands-on attention from a teacher whose passion for teaching science and desire
for student’s success is profoundly evident to both the students and community.
Bosma’s work includes mentoring students involved in physical science,
chemistry, physics and applied science.
“These two teachers are committed to
getting students interested in math and science,” said Bob Whitmore, executive
vice president of product and process development. “Science can be such an
interesting and fun subject, especially when you have teachers like these two
who encourage creativity and reinforce skills.”
One million entry-level engineers will be needed over the next
decade according to the National Academy of Engineering. Last month, in his
visit to Minnesota, President Bush emphasized
that the United States
cannot lead the world in science and technology development unless more
emphasis and funds are dedicated to educating young scientists and
mathematicians. Getting knowledgeable,
experienced and dedicated teachers involved in math and science activities is
more important than ever.
About
Seagate
Seagate is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and
marketing of hard disc drives, providing products for a wide-range of Enterprise, Desktop,
Mobile Computing, and Consumer Electronics applications. Seagate’s business
model leverages technology leadership and world-class manufacturing to deliver
industry-leading innovation and quality to its global customers, and to be the
low cost producer in all markets in which it participates. The company is
committed to providing award-winning products, customer support and reliability
to meet the world’s growing demand for information storage. Seagate can be
found around the globe and at www.seagate.com.
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the Wave logo are U.S.
registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC.
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