TEACHER ADVISORY COUNCIL

Membership 2011-2012

Steven J. Long (Chair), Science Teacher, Rogers High School, Rogers, AR

Nancy Arroyo, Mathematics Teacher, Riverside High School, El Paso, TX

Eric Bethel, District of Columbia Public Schools, Washington, DC

Charlene Dindo, Director, Pelican’s Nest Science Lab, Fairhope, AL

Kenneth Huff, Mill Middle School, Williamsville, NY

Juliana Jones, (Vice-Chair) Algebra Teacher, Longfellow Middle School, Berkeley, CA

Mary Marguerite (Margo) Murphy, Camden Hills Regional High School, Rockport, ME

Jennifer Sinsel, Science Teacher, Bostic Elementary School, Wichita, KS

Roberta Tanner, Science Teacher, Loveland High School, Loveland, CO

Darren Wells, Science Teacher, James P. Timilty Middle School, Roxbury, MA

Ex Officio

Bruce Alberts, Professor of Biochemistry, University of California, San Francisco, CA

Teacher Advisory Council Biographical Sketches
	Steven J. Long (Chair) currently teaches AP Chemistry, Pre-AP Chemistry, and ChemCom at Rogers High School in Rogers, Arkansas. RHS currently houses 1800 students in grades 11-12, but will split into two 9-12 high schools in 2008-09, each with a student population of over 1600. Rogers Public Schools have experienced significant diversification over the past decade, and have a current student population of about 65 percent Caucasian, 30 percent Hispanic, and five percent Asian and African-American students. Steve has served as the RHS Science Department Chair since 1997, and was the Rogers Public Schools Secondary Science Curriculum Specialist from 2001-2007 coordinating the science instruction for 5,000 students in grades 6-12 and the professional development of about 45 secondary science teachers. He serves on local and national committees, and he is a frequent participant and presenter at state and national conferences. In his 33-year career, Steve has taught chemistry, biology, earth science, and life science. He is active in professional organizations including the National Science Teachers Association, the Arkansas Science Teachers Association, and the American Chemical Society. Steve served on the Board of Directors of NSTA as the elected High School Director from June 2005–May 2007. Currently, he is a member of the NSTA Executive Director Search Committee. He has also been a national teacher leader/trainer for the ACS ChemCom program since 1995, and has been involved with both the Third and Fifth Editions of the ChemCom textbook. He was a presenter for the Flinn Scientific Foundation Summer Chemistry Workshops from 2002-2006. Steve has written a semi-annual column for the Journal of Chemical Education since 1997; he has written commentary articles for The Science Teacher; and he has co-authored a chapter with Dr. Mary Kirchhoff for the ACS publication (in progress), Chemistry and the National Science Education Standards, 2 Ed. Steve has received numerous awards for his leadership, service, and classroom instruction including the 2001 Milken National Educator Award, semi-finalist for the National Teacher Hall of Fame in 2003, the 2000-01 American Chemistry Council regional Catalyst Award, the 1998 ACS Southwest Region High School Chemistry Teaching Award, and the 1996 Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and science Teaching. In addition, Steve was the first teacher in Arkansas to achieve National Board certification in AYA Science in 2000. He is passionate about teaching and about chemistry.
	Nancy M. Arroyo is a middle school mathematics teacher at Riverside High School (serving a 98% Hispanic student population) in El Paso, Texas.  For the last seven years, she has served as department head for math and for the last two years she has been the Math Lead Teacher for her school.  For the next four years, she will be the district’s lead AP teacher under a grant from Dell.  She will work with teachers and students to help them better prepare for Advanced Placement courses.  Prior to coming to Riverside, Ms. Arroyo taught at the Green Gates School, a British International Baccalaureate School, in Mexico City, at the University of Puerto Rico, and at Nuestra Senora de la Merced.  She completed her undergraduate work in mathematics at the University of Puerto Rico in 1976, where she completed all required courses for a Masters Degree in Pure Mathematics in 1987.  She went on to earn a Masters Degree in Mathematical Education from Instituto Nacional Politecnico de Mexico in Mexico City in 1994.   Ms. Arroyo admits to a tremendous love for teaching, and she continually works to provide new ways to meet the needs of all of her students.  Her school webpage is filled with links that students find useful when in her classes.  During the upcoming year, representatives from the College Board will return a second time to film her classroom, and will use the material in their internet “courses” for other AP teachers.  She was the Riverside High School Teacher of the Year in 2003, the same year she was the recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.  Nancy served on an NSF Presidential Award Panel in 2005 and the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills Panel in 2005.  In addition, she was President of the Greater El Paso Council of Teachers of Mathematics from 2005-2007.She has taught grade levels 7 though 12 including regular and advanced math as well as AP calculus, and has worked in both public and private schools.  She co-authored a Geometry textbook which is used in the public educational system of Puerto Rico.
	Eric Bethel, a teacher for the past 8 years, is currently on staff with the District of Columbia Public Schools. For the past three years at Marie Reed Elementary School in Washington, DC, Eric has been heavily involved in professional development based on lesson study, a program designed around continuing collaborative improvement of teaching. Test data from Marie Reed showed a deficit in student understanding of mathematics. As a result, the school now has a theme of math at the forefront of the school’s culture, with an emphasis on looking at students’ thinking. Teachers have been meeting daily after school to improve their own content knowledge and to improve instruction by reviewing the scope and sequence and overall curriculum for mathematics at the school. Eric is a pioneering member of the district of Columbia’s first Lesson Study Research Team, and he describes the collaborative process as the most powerful professional development he’s ever experienced. Eric graduated from Mount St. Mary’s University with a B.A. in sociology and a subsequent M.S. in education. He is currently enrolled in classes at George Mason University, working toward a specialist certification in mathematics. Eric is one of six DCPS teachers selected to serve as Teacher Central to Leadership Fellows for the summer of 2010. He will work directly with the Chancellor and other DCPS leaders to provide input central to policy and instructional decisions. A major issue of concern for Eric is the gap in content knowledge for many elementary teachers and a lack of depth in math concepts for students.
	Charlene Dindo taught self-contained kindergarten for eighteen years before moving to her current position as the marine science resource teacher for the twenty-six K-1 classes at the Fairhope K-1 Center in Fairhope, Alabama, where she also serves as technology coordinator.  In addition, she conducts marine field experiences for K-5 classes from throughout Baldwin County, Alabama.  She is passionate about the work she does at the Pelican’s Nest Science Lab; she not only helped design the building, she developed the program and did extensive fund raising for the project as well.  She believes that elementary teachers won’t have a passion for that which they don’t experience (i.e. science), and she is trying to change that through her work at the lab.  She received her B.S. (1978) and M.S. (1984) degrees in Early Childhood Education and has since taken several courses in technology in education. In 2003, Ms. Dindo served as an Einstein Fellow, working at the National Science Foundation, Elementary, Secondary and Informal Education division, in Arlington, Virginia.  She received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 2001.  In 2000, she received both the Sea World Busch Gardens Environmental Excellence Award and the NSTA Outstanding Environmental Educator Award.  She has received numerous other awards including the Christa McAuliffe Fellowship in 1993.  She has pursued and received grant monies for her district totally nearly $100,000.
	Kenneth Huff has just completed his 18th year of teaching, and he currently teaches 6th grade science (integrated physical and life sciences) at Mill Middle School (grades 5-8, 859 students), where he also serves as science team leader and staff development coordinator. He earned both his B.S. degree, with a concentration in special education, and his M.S. degree, with a concentration in curriculum, from SUNY College at Buffalo. He heartily endorses the principles set out in Ready, Set, SCIENCE!, and recently had an article published in NSTA’s middle level journal, Science Scope about his work with the SSSNOW project – Students Synthesizing Snow data in Natural Objectives Ways. Throughout the project, supported by a Toyota Tapestry grant, Ken incorporated the four strands of science outlined in RSS. Ken has been extremely active professionally, and has served on committees and boards at the state level (Department of Education, STANYS – Science Teachers Association of New York State) and at the national level (NSTA, American Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics). He has been recognized numerous times with awards for his teaching and, in 2006, he received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 2006, and he is currently working on his National Board Certification. Ken is particularly interested in how professional development is disseminated to teachers and how to most effectively assess students and teachers. As a long time Associate of the Academies Teacher Advisory Council, Ken has a strong interest in developing a state Teacher Advisory Council for New York.
	Juliana E. Jones (Vice-Chair) teaches Algebra I at Longfellow Middle School in the Berkeley Unified School District.  She has been teaching since 1996 in both Southern and Northern California.  She also was a director for Score! Educational Centers in New York and California.  Most recently she taught for 7 years in the Oakland Unified School District before moving to Berkeley schools.  Ms. Jones earned a Bachelor of Science degree in General Mathematics and a Masters of Arts degree with a focus on mathematics education from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1997.     She received National Board Certification in Early Adolescent Mathematics in 2003 and went on to coach other teachers in Oakland to achieve National Board Certification.  Juliana has served as a Teacher Leader for the Bay Area Math Project and participated in the Region 4 California Subject Matter Project Planning Meeting.  She is an original member of the California Teacher Advisory Council which was founded in 2005.  In 2006, she served on an NSF Review Panel for Academies for Young Scientists and wrote an article about teaching mathematics and science for UCLA’s alumni magazine.  She was the only teacher to serve on the California Council on Science and Technology’s State Response to “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” Education Task Force.  In 2007 she was named Oakland Unified’s Teacher of the Year and then Alameda County's Teacher of the Year.      In 2008 Juliana was a panel speaker for the Silicon Valley Education Foundation Algebra Summit and she also won an Education Foundation Grant for Prudential California.  Juliana's career path was featured in the book Making a Difference: Developing Meaningful Careers in Education published in 2009.  This year, Juliana has served as a CalTeach Mentor and did a live interview on math education on KPFA 94.1, a local listener sponsored free speech radio station.
	Mary Marguerite (Margo) Murphy currently teaches freshman integrated science and a junior level botany class at Camden Hills Regional HS, where she also serves as a technology integration team leader. CHRHS serves 660 students from 5 communities. Margo received her B.S. in forest management in 1985, and her M.Ed. in secondary science education in 1992, both from the University of Maine, Orono. She is one course shy of earning her assistant principal certification. Prior to coming to Camden Hills Regional, Margo taught science for 22 years at Georges Valley HS where she served as department chair, K-12 science team facilitator, HS-MLTI Teacher leader, NCLB Teacher Quality PD Coordinator, and Eisenhower/Title II Coordinator. Since 2007, she has been the advisor for Windplanner, a team of students attempting to raise $500,000 for a 100 kilowatt wind turbine for the school; they have raised all but $100,000. Margo has served on numerous local and state committees, and was a member of the Board on Science Education (BOSE) in the Center for Education at the National Academies from 2004 – 2006 where she was involved with the development of Taking Science to School and Ready, Set, SCIENCE! She has been an Associate member of the Academies Teacher Advisory Council since 2002. In 2003, she became a Nationally Board Certified Teacher in earth science, and she received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 1994. Throughout her career, she has authored and received several grants to support her department and her students. Margo is particularly interested in finding ways to support new teachers by helping them to find success early, and encourage those veteran teachers who are “comfortable” into a more reflective practice.
	Jennifer Sinsel currently teaches gifted elementary students in Wichita, KS, an urban school district serving approximately 50,000 students. She received her B.S. in Earth Science Education in 1997 and her M.S. in Space Studies in 2000, both from the University of North Dakota. Recently, she completed a second Master’s program in Gifted Education from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She has 11 years of teaching experience, and she loves using science to excite her students about learning. Each year, she uses the knowledge she has gained through numerous space-related fellowships, including a National Space Biomedical Research Institute Teacher Academy Fellowship and a NASA Ames Airspace Systems Educator Fellowship, to integrate aerospace activities into reading, writing, and mathematics. In 2003, Jennifer was selected as one of 35 teachers from across the country to interview for a NASA Astronaut position. She has also received numerous awards for her teaching, including Kansas Aerospace Educator of the Year, AIAA Educator of the Year, and the National Middle Level Science Teacher’s Award for Creative Teaching and Leadership. She has traveled the country presenting teacher workshops with an aerospace emphasis, and she recently published two teacher’s guides containing standards-based science activities in order to further share her ideas with others.
	Roberta Tanner grew up in East Lansing, Michigan, and completed her undergraduate work in Physics and Mechanical Engineering at Kalamazoo College and Michigan State University. Upon graduation, Roberta worked as a mechanical engineer in product development at IBM in Boulder, Colorado. When her sons were born, Roberta chose to leave the workforce until they entered school. Roberta had never intended to teach, but during her time at home she started teaching ninth grade students at church. She found that interacting with students was rewarding, exciting and meaningful. Instead of returning to engineering when her youngest son entered first grade, she returned to school and earned her teaching certificate and a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Roberta has been teaching in the Thompson School District in Loveland, Colorado for fifteen years. During the 2006-2007 school year she served as "Teacher in Residence" with the Physics Education Research group at the University of Colorado in Boulder and as mentor to her temporary replacement. She will return to the classroom again in the fall. Roberta has taught many subjects including Chemistry, Earth Science, Algebra, Pre-Algebra, several levels of Physics, and Microcomputer Projects. Wanting to spur her students to higher levels of achievement, Roberta started Advanced Placement Physics in her district and developed Microcomputer Projects, a project-oriented microchip and electrical engineering course, with help from a local engineer. Along with understanding content and concepts, Roberta's focus is to help students of all abilities learn analysis, problem solving, organization, and the joy of working through difficulties to accomplish a goal. Roberta was honored with the international Intel Excellence in Teaching Award in 2004 and has served as an associate to the Teacher Advisory Council of the National Academy of Science for the past two years.
	Darren T. Wells is an Instructional Team/Science Teacher Leader in Middle School Science, Boston Public Schools. Mr. Wells appropriately called the “Nutty Professor” provides mentoring and training to new and veteran teachers in the middle school science curriculum for the Boston Public Schools. He is an integrated science classroom teacher and has taught for the past 14 years at James P. Timilty Middle School in Roxbury, MA. He has teaching experience in several areas in Hampton, Virginia, Hempstead, and Long Island New York and Brookline, Massachusetts. He firmly believes that this is the best time in education for teaching and learning of science and mathematics. Mr. Wells is involved in many community/professional activities and has received numerous awards and grants. Just recently, he became the first teacher in Massachusetts to receive the MetLife Foundation Ambassadors in Education Award. As such, he earned a $5,000 grant for his school. He received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics in 2004. He is an officer/member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts, Black Educators Alliance of Massachusetts, Network of Educator in Science and Technology at M.I.T., Tufts, Boston University and a Harvard Medical School Teacher/Mentor Fellow. Mr. Wells received his B.S/B.A. in Biology/Management from Hampton Institute in Virginia, M.Ed. in Mathematic, English, Science, Technology, Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a C.A.G.S. Instructional Leadership at Simmons College and continues to take graduated level courses in all of the domains of science and education with the hope of earning a Ph.D.
	Ex Officio Bruce Alberts, past president of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., is a respected biochemist recognized for his work both in biochemistry and molecular biology. He is noted particularly for his extensive study of the protein complexes that allow chromosomes to be replicated, as required for a living cell to divide. He has spent his career making significant contributions to the field of life sciences, serving in different capacities on a number of prestigious advisory and editorial boards, including as chair of the Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council. Until his election as President of the Academy, he was president-elect of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Born in 1938 in Chicago, Illinois, Alberts graduated from Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a degree in biochemical sciences. He earned a doctorate from Harvard University in 1965. He joined the faculty of Princeton University in 1966 and after ten years was appointed professor and vice chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In 1980, he was awarded the honor of an American Cancer Society Lifetime Research Professorship. In 1985, he was named chair of the UCSF Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. Alberts has long been committed to the improvement of science education, dedicating much of his time to educational projects such as City Science, a program seeking to improve science teaching in San Francisco elementary schools. He has served on the advisory board of the National Science Resources Center¾ a joint project of the National Academy of Sciences and the Smithsonian Institution working with teachers, scientists, and school systems to improve teaching of science¾ as well as on the National Academy of Sciences' National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment. He is one of the original authors of The Molecular Biology of the Cell, considered the leading textbook of its kind and used widely in U.S. colleges and universities. His most recent text, Essential Cell Biology (1998), is intended to approach this subject matter for a wider audience. For the period 2000 to 2005, Dr. Alberts is the Co-chair of the InterAcademy Council, a new advisory institution in Amsterdam governed by the presidents of 15 science academies from around the world.