Four Minnesota teachers have won the highest awards attainable for a kindergarten through 12th grade math or science teacher in the U.S., the White House announced Monday.
The state's honors in the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching went to teachers in the Mahtomedi, Minneapolis and St. Paul districts. The award is given to standout teachers in those fields from the 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, U.S. Territories and the Department of Defense Education Activity schools.
Minnesota's kindergarten through sixth grade winners are Frances Stang, a science teacher at O.H. Anderson Elementary School in the Mahtomedi district, and Carissa Tobin, who won in the math category for her work at Nellie Stone Johnson Community School in the Minneapolis district as a kindergarten and first-grade teacher.
In the grades 7 through 12 category, Minneapolis South High's Morgan Fierst and St. Paul Central Senior High's Lisa Houdek won awards for science and math teaching, respectively.
Award winners get a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation and their awards at a September ceremony in Washington, D.C.
About the winners
Frances Stang
Stang has been a teacher for decades and has taught at O.H. Anderson Elementary for more than 20 years. There, she developed the science curriculum and is the fifth-grade lead science teacher, according to her bio on the Presidential Awards website. She's passionate about environmental science and she's been selected several times as an honored teacher in an awards program for top graduating seniors.
