The annual OSTA Fall Conference is the venue for the election of members to the OSTA Board of Directors. The OSTA Nominations Committee has recommended the following slate of candidates for consideration be the membership. In some cases, there is a contested election, in others, there is but a single candidate. Here we include a brief synopsis of biographical information provided about each candidate as provided by their nominator…
Vice-President/President-Elect (to serve as 2013 OSTA President)
Tina Rogers – Canton High School. BS.Ed., SWOSU. Named the 2009 District III as well as the Regional OACD Conservation Education Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Rogers has also received several awards within Project WILD, an environmental curriculum based on conservation issues from the Department of Wildlife Conservation. She has been a facilitator for Project Wild for the past 19 years. She has been a teacher in the State of Oklahoma for 15 years from which she has served 3 elected terms on the Oklahoma Science Teachers Association’s Board of Directors: 2 as the Northwest District Representative and 1 as the High School Division Director. Tina has also worked closely with testing and assessment coordinators as a member of the OCCT test items review committee. Teaching in a small rural environment and serving as Master Teacher/Presenter for various Professional Development opportunities, Tina is aware of the day to day struggles of science educators statewide and wishes to serve Oklahoma as a whole, not only by offering quality professional development, but also venues for networking among quality science educators.
Secretary
Ava Wilhelm – Briarwood Elementary, Moore. M.Ed., National Board Certified, MC Gen Fund for Teacher Fellow, Chair (3 years) for Moore Professional Development Committee.
High School Division Director
Deborah Hill – Norman, High School. B.S. Ed., University of Oklahoma, National Board Certified, past service on the OSTA Board as High School Division Director and SE Director.
Jim Jenkins – Bethel Public Schools. M.S., Oklahoma State University, Master Teacher of Science State Department of Education, Shawnee Conservation District Outstanding Educator, Honorary American FFA Degree, Oklahoma FFA Honorary Degree, Southeast District Vice President of Oklahoma FFA Association, Past President of Bethel Teachers Organization, Director of Bethel School Science Fair. Has served on numerous organizations in community, church and state organizations. “Has a burning desire to advance science education in Oklahoma”.
Elementary Division Director
Annette Huett – Kelley Elementary, Norman. B.S.Ed., University of Oklahoma, Teacher of the year for my school in 2008, OSTA elementary science teacher of the year 2009, 21 years as a classroom teacher in 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th grade levels with two of those years spent as a MAGNET (multi-age group networking) teacher.
Randy Utt – James L. Dennis Elementary, Putnam City Schools. Degrees from Oklahoma Baptist University, Arizona State University. National Board Certified. A classroom teacher for 27 years. 2009 Putnam City Schools District Teacher of the Year, 2010 Oklahoma Council of Social Studies Elementary Teacher of the Year. Recipient of several NSF Professional Development grants affording opportunities to study the geology and marine ecology in Hawaii, the whales and the marine ecology off of the Pacific Northwest, fossils on Colorado’s Western Slope, and the flora, fauna, and geology of the Galapagos Island ecosystem and develop lessons based upon these experiences. Recipient of grants to attend Colonial Williamsburg teacher professional development institutes. participant in Infusing Inquiry into Elementary School Science summer Institute at SNOMNH. OKC Thunder Teacher of the Game (March 24, 2010). In 2008, Randy and a colleague were named two of the state’s “Top 20 Sparks” by Oklahoma A+ Schools and Creativity Oklahoma for their innovative unit design. 2002 Barbara Spriesterbach Excellence in Education Award Winner
District 1 (NE Region)
Becky Hammack – Stillwater Middle School. National Board Certification/Early Adolescent Science. Currently working on PhD in Science Education. 2011 Vernier Technology Award. 2008 Maitland P. Simmons Award for New Science Teachers. OSTA Board of Directors for the last 4 years and currently serving on the committee that is redefining the roles and responsibilities of Board members.
District 3 (SW Region)
Brandi Williams – Westmoore HS, Moore. Master’s- Science Education, AFA Gerrity Chapter Teacher of the Year, 2011.
District 5 (Tulsa)
Sally Fenska – Cascia Hall, Tulsa. MS instructional Strategies, NSU, PhD-student, OSU. Miami Public Schools District Teacher of the year, 2007. National Association of Biology Teachers, Outstanding Biology Teacher Award – 2000. NABT Region VII Coordinator. Current member of the OSTA Board.