NSSSA Presents Joe Tarello with Lifetime Achievement Award

Along with the Outstanding Science Teacher awards handed out at last week's NSSSA annual awards banquet, a surprise honor was bestowed upon Somerville High School teacher, Joe Tarello for his incredible commitment to science education over the past 50 years in the Somerville Public Schools.
Several Somerville teachers and science supervisors were on hand for this historic occasion. Joe was surprised by the recognition, though he kept graceful composure throughout as a number of Joe's past and present leaders and students spoke personally about his impact on their lives and the students who were fortunate enough to take his courses.

Joe Tarello has been teaching at Somerville High School for 50 years. Joe graduated from SHS and then stared his long teaching career in September of 1964. In the years that followed, Joe has had students who have gone on to become congressmen, pilots, surgeons, and even fellow teachers at SHS. Joe has been an instrumental figure in the proliferation of Science Fair in Massachusetts. He started hosting the Region IV Science Fair at Somerville High School in 1976 and the Regional Fair is still held there each March. Joe also brought students to the International Science Fair for more than 10 years. Joe brought the very first AP class (AP Chemistry) to Somerville in 1978 and has been teaching chemistry at Bunker Hill Community College since that time. During the summers, Joe has trained teachers all over the country. In all his years of teaching, he has never grown tired of working with the students. Seeing his students succeed is what gives Joe the energy to keep coming back year after year. Joe has touched the lives of well over 5,000 students and he has no plans of retiring and for that, we are thankful. -Karen Woods, Science Department Chair

The NSSSA congratulates Mr. Tarello on his incredible achievements as a science educator over his illustrious tenure and look forward to hearing more about his future achievements, for Joe has yet to indicate when he intends to retire!

NSSSA Recognizes Outstanding Science Educators at 2014 Awards Banquet

Another year of science leadership is in the books as the NSSSA celebrated the 2013-2014 academic year at the Danversport Yacht Club on Thursday, May 1st. There was plenty to celebrate about the success of the organization, but all was overshadowed by the recognition of five outstanding science educators from across the region.

Tim Hawkins - Andover Public Schools

Tim Harkins is an elementary teacher at West Elementary School in Andover, MA. He has taught 2nd grade for the past 3 years after teaching 5th grade at the same school for the previous seven years. Tim is known across the Andover School District for his innovative use of technology in his science lessons and his leadership role training Andover teachers how to more fully integrate technology into their instruction in all disciplines. He’s been an active member on the district’s science curriculum councils in the past and his work has helped to shape the elementary science program for the past decade. Tim contributed to the development of the nationally recognized Engineering Is Elementary for which he piloted many of the program resources and has worked closely with the Museum of Science developers since the program's beginning. Tim has his fingerprints on most things related to elementary science in Andover and was nominated for this award because his past contributions and his capacity to grow into a broader leadership role in local and regional STEM elementary education. -Steve Sanborn, PreK-12 Science Program Advisor

Aemi Herrera - Lynn Vocational Technical Institute

Ms. Herrera's approach to all her ELL Science classes are inquiry based. Ms. Herrera goes beyond the school and the text book requirements for her classroom lessons and the activities. Ms. Herrera spends hours after school to prepare the right lab or activity for her students. Ms. Herrera’s approach to all her curriculums comes from her very organized manner of foreseeing the steps to work with different levels of ELL students. Ms. Herrera has wonderfully divided the subject areas into many small lessons and activities, and she has identified all her students needs; she therefore, teaches based on her students’ needs. Ms. Herrera’s students willingly attend afterschool tutoring sessions and they truly appreciate their teacher’s hard work and passion about science. We are very lucky to have Aemi Herrera as our ELL science teacher. -Banafsheh Salamat, Science Department Head

Anita Mason - Burlington Public Schools

Anita exemplifies the meaning of an outstanding science educator in the elementary classroom. Her excitement and dedication to science rises above and beyond. She is a leader in understanding the importance of the science standards and their reinforcement with hands-on science activities. Despite the increasing pressure and time constraints, Anita always finds the time to engages kids with practicing real science (live animals, engineering design process, magnets, sound, and light explorations, pellet dissections and worm bins.) She is always looking to try new activities to teach her students about the world around them and regularly teaches them how science is a part of their everyday lives. She also encourages her students to practice their science observation skills while outside of school and at home. She trains her students to focus on thinking science and doing science. Anita holds her students to high expectations and gets great results. Anita is always eager to share her ideas, activities, and experiments with her school community and the Science Center. She has been a lifelong learner and has regularly attended conferences and PD opportunities to increase her science skills and knowledge. Above all Anita Mason is a caring, competent and quality science teacher and we are fortunate to have her in Burlington!  -Wendy Pavlicek, K-5 Science Director

Don Pinkerton - Revere Public Schools

Don Pinkerton is in his fifth year as an educator at Revere High School. In this time Don has had a significant impact on the lives of students and the quality of science education at RHS. He currently teaches Freshman Biology and Biotechnology. He is passionate, curious, and knowledgeable about science. He is tireless and has developed strong and lasting relationships with students. Don is a sharing colleague, whose love for our student’s diversity and resiliency has grown to where he is among their greatest advocates. He is currently taking classes that will further his ability to meet their diverse learning styles. Don fought for and successfully restored the school’s science team, part of the North Shore Science League. The team is now a vibrant part of the community. For the first time in the history of the North Shore Science League, RHS hosted a meet which was a tremendous success. Don has developed a fruitful relationship with the Harvard Life Science Outreach Program. This has provided technical and material assistance. He frequently heads out to Cambridge to pick up materials for the next day’s inquiry lab. He is a big supporter of science fair and has served as a judge at the regional fair. He has participated in numerous workshops and is a member of several professional organizations including the Massachusetts Marine Educators. He frequently attends lectures at the Broad Institute at MIT and at Harvard University. No one in the department does better at soliciting others to participate in extracurricular science activities than Mr. Pinkerton. Don is a critical piece in the success of the Revere High School science department and the future of our students. Colleagues such as Don ensure a bright future for science at Revere High School. -David Eatough, Science Supervisor for Revere Public Schools

The NSSSA congratulations all of our outstanding science educators and look forward to seeing them at our events next year as honorary members. The NSSSA would also like to thank Wheelabrator Technologies of Saugus for sponsoring our award plaques and Pearson Education for sponsoring the banquet.