UVEI Graduate Named NSTA Fellow

Cristina Veresan, Class of 2006, has been named a Fellow in the 2008 New Science Teacher Academy. Cristina is teaching seventh-grade life sciences at the Southport Middle School in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Teachers selected by the NSTA receive a year membership to the association along with a year of mentoring, access to online education for science teachers and a trip to the national science conference in New Orleans in March with all expenses paid. The academy, which is sponsored by the Amgen Foundation, was set up to stem the tide of teachers who leave the profession in the first five years of their career. Cristina, who is the chair of the sciences department at her school stated, "I thought the academy would be a great opportunity to interact with science teachers from around the country. I plan to share what I am learning with the other members of my department and teaching team."

NSTA teachers are selected on the basis of several criteria, including displaying a strong interest in growing as a professional science educator and inspiring a passion for science among their students.