August 24, 2016

Cary James, a JSHS science teacher in Maine, and Jeffrey Wehr from Washington will be two of the 213 mathematics and science teachers to receive the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.  Every year, the White House presents this honor to outstanding K-12 science and math teachers nationwide who have showed exemplary success in ensuring students are equipped with the science and math skills to succeed.

James is the head of the science department at Bangor High School, where he mentors students through JSHS. For the past 17 years, James has taught Advanced Placement, Honors, and Credit Recovery Chemistry classes to 10th–12th grade students. He has received numerous teaching awards throughout his career including the Siemens Award for Advanced Placement Teacher of the Year (Maine 2009), Pulp and Paper Foundation Maine Teacher Award (2009), the Francis Crowe Society Honorary Engineering Degree from the University of Maine (2010) and New England Institute of Chemistry Maine State Teacher Award (2011) just to name a few.

Wehr has been a scientist and educator for the past 19 years. He has spent the last 12 years at Odessa High School, where he teaches Integrated Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Programming, and Advanced STEM Research Laboratory. Over the course of his career he has earned the Department of Education’s American Star of Teaching Award, the Washington State Regional Teacher of the Year, the National Siemens Founder’s Award for STEM Research, and the National Junior Science and Humanities STEM Research Award.

On September 8, all recipients of this award will gather for a formal award ceremony in Washington, DC. The winners, who were selected by a panel of distinguished and accomplished scientists, mathematicians and educators, will all receive a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation to be used at their discretion.

Congratulations, Mr. James and Mr. Wehr!

 

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