Carthage High School teacher Autumn Palmer has been named a recipient of the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
Established in 1983, the PAEMST is the highest award K-12 math and science teachers can receive from the U.S. government. This year, 336 teachers and mentors from across the country received the PAEMSTs and the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.
Teachers are nominated for the award by colleagues, administrators and students. A panel of mathematicians, scientists, and educators at the state and national levels assess nominations before recommending awardees to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Teachers are selected based on their distinction in the classroom and dedication to improving education in STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math.
Palmer has been a 10th through 12th grade chemistry teacher at Carthage High School for the past 26 years. As a certified enhancing Missouri’s Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies/Mathematics Engineering, Technology and Science instructor, Palmer has taught honors, advanced placement and dual credit chemistry.
Palmer assists with the school’s science Olympiad team and has coached the stream team, which was responsible for reporting its findings to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Her students participate in a schoolwide murder mystery, for which she is the architect. By playing the role of forensic scientists, her students conduct toxicology and serology testing and work with students in other disciplines to help process a crime scene, analyze the evidence, make an arrest and present their findings in front of a real judge.
She has been recognized as a regional teacher of the year for Missouri and a Missouri State Teachers Association Southwest Region Secondary Educator of the Year. Palmer received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Missouri Southern State University and her master’s in education with an emphasis in chemistry from Pittsburg State University.
“There are so many wonderful educators that often do not receive the recognition they deserve,” Palmer said in a statement. “This award provides validation that there are great things happening in the classroom that have not gone unnoticed. It honors not only me, but my students, their families, and my colleagues. I want to continue to grow as an educator and to advocate for a profession that I am honored to belong to. I have grown through the Presidential Award process, and this journey is one I will forever be grateful for.”
With this award, teachers receive $10,000 from the National Science Foundation, a certificate signed by the president and a trip to Washington, D.C., to celebrate their accomplishment.
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