CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The National Science Foundation is accepting nominations and applications for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Recipients each receive $10,000 over three years from the National Science Foundation, which administers the program, and an all expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., for an awards ceremony. The week-long celebration also includes professional development.

Established by Congress in 1983, the annual program identifies highly qualified kindergarten through 12^th grade mathematics and science teachers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Territories and the U.S. Department of Defense Schools. Up to 108 candidates are chosen every year from each state and district by a panel of scientists, mathematicians and educators on the basis of their teaching performance, background and experience.

The 2012 awards will honor math and science teachers working in grades K-6. Teachers of grades 7 through 12 will be honored in 2013. Nominations for 2012 close April 1. Teachers who are nominated will be contacted and then have until May 1 to complete an application. Anyone can nominate a teacher, including other teachers, principals, students, past students, parents and community members at https://www.paemst.org/nomination/nominate.

To be eligible, teachers must

• teach mathematics or science at the K-6th grade level in a public or private school.
• hold at least a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution.
• be a full-time employee of the school or school district as determined by state and district policies, and teach K-12 students at least 50 percent of the time.
• have at least five years of full-time, K-12 mathematics or science teaching experience prior to the 2011-2012 academic schoolyear.
• teach in one of the 50 states or the four U.S. jurisdictions of Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; Department of Defense Education Activity schools; and the U.S. territories as a group (American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands).
• be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
• not have received the award at the national level in any prior competition or category.

For more information, contact the Office of Communications at (304) 558-2699.

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