OSTA Board Officer Slate Announced

The OSTA Nominating Committee has reviewed nominations and applications and has proposed the following slate of Board of Director candidates for election.  The election itself will take place over the course of the week of November 4-8 and will be conducted electronically.  OSTA members will receive an invitation to an election survey and will be able to vote approval of the slate of candidates at that time.

The Nominating Committee proposes the following OSTA members to be elected to the Board:

2014 President-elect (to serve at President in 2015 and past-President in 2016)

Bethany Lorenz – Putnam City North High School – Bethany is the Current OSTA NW District Director.  She holds a Bachelors degree from OSU and is a MEd candidate expecting graduation from UCO in December.  She has served on the Oklahoma C3 Science Curriculum Revision Committee, SDE Assessments Biology I Item Review Committee, and OEA Professional Development Committee. She has served as Putnam City Schools Teacher of the Year  and is a recipient of the NABT Outstanding Biology Teacher Award.

Treasurer  (to serve a three year term beginning 2014)

Kim Terrell – Centennal Elementary School, Edmond – Kim graduated with a degree in Elementary Education from Oklahoma State University.  She has been in Edmond Public Schools for a year and taught science and social studies in fifth grade last spring.  She currently teaches fourth grade reading and science.

Elementary Director (2 year term)

Annette Huett – Kelley Elementary, Moore – BS in elementary Ed. 2008 Teacher of the Year at school level, 2009 OSTA Elementary Outstanding Science Teacher, 2012 PAEMST state level finalist. Is a frequent presenter of workshops on science safety, STEM, Force and Motion, and Merging Math and Reading into your Science Lessons and has served on several state level committees.

High School Director (2 year term)

Deborah Hill – Norman High School – Debbie has been teaching since 1989 and has taught AP Biology since 1996.  She joined OSTA in 1989.  She is a member of NABT and is the latest Oklahoma recipient of NABT’s  Outstanding Biology Teacher Award.  She received  National Board Certification in 2007.   She is a past OSTA Board member and has served on the Board of Governors of Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education for 4 years.  Her  current interest is in helping teachers meet the challenges of the changing environment and expectations of science teaching and seeing that support is provided to them in their endeavors through creating professional development opportunities and collaborative communities.

Director-at-Large (2-year term)

Mark Rauch – Heritage Hall, Oklahoma City – B.S. Biology. Teacher of the Year (2 times) at AOLP in San Diego,CA. He was Student Association President in college and has run major co-curricular programs. He twice chaired the accreditation committee at his school in California.

Director-at-Large (2-year term)

Tamara Lookabaugh – Moore High School – B.S.Ed. from OBU. Tamara is  a teacher consultant for the Oklahoma Writing Project and provides training for teacher’s in incorporating writing in their Science classrooms.  She is a biotech lead teacher through the program at OCCC and helps with training throughout Moore Schools on biotech lab skills to integrate into the curriculum.  She serves on the MNTC Biotechnology Advisory Committee and teaches the science research class at Moore high school.  She is a frequent presenter at NSTA and NABT conferences and for the State Dept of Education. Tamara is a recipient of the OBTA from the National Association of Biology Teachers, the OSTA Middle School Science Teaching Award, and the Oklahoma Junior Academy of Science Teaching Award.