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“I feel honored to be a finalist,” said Mrs. Bruehey, who teaches at Green Valley Elementary School. “But there are a lot of unsung heros who don’t get recognition.”As a prerequisite to winning the award, Mrs. Bruehey submitted one of her innovations to the National Seienee Foundation.Her idea' was to show elementary students how math integrates with many aspects of the world. Students applied math skills with statistics about families, such as income levels, taxes, food expenditures and family dwellings.Students then compared national data with their own family, paid bills and went shopping, figured family taxes and drafted a house to scale.Mrs. Bruehey said parents liked the project because their children learned how much money is spent on kids.The children thanked their parents’ generosity by planning a parent appreciation night, complete with a banquet dinner and music.Each child wrote a tribute to his parents.“The kids felt really great,” Mrs. Bruehey said. “They learned to do something kind for someone else and that giving is better than getting.”The foundation also required Mrs, Bruehey, who has taught for 24 years, to write an essay on the rewards of teaching. She said she has an antique school desk in her house where she keeps letters and gifts from students.“If my house caught on fire,” said Mrs. Bruehey, “that's the tiling I would save. People who teach don’t do it for the money. They care about kids.”Mrs. House, the Maryland secondary math teaching finalist, submitted a hands-on Algebra II lesson using graphic calculators and computers. Mrs. House said her students applied equations to problems involving blood-alcohol levels.Mrs. House, who teaches at Frederick High School, said she is fighting a national trend. Statistics show, shesaid, that women shy away from math education.“Traditionally many women feel that they don’t need math to be successful,” said Mrs. House, “But as our country changes, there will be more math-related jobs.”Mrs. House is involved in developing the countywide math curriculum and works to encourage women in her classroom to pursue higher levels of math.A teacher for eight years in the county, Mrs. House said if she wins the competition, she would spend the grant for technology important to students’ future.“Our students have to be very comfortable with technology when they leave us,” said Mrs. House.The National Science Foundation established the awards to identify outstanding teachers and bring increased recognition to the profession. The state winners around the country will be announced in August.r-— 1
Newspaper Details
News
Frederick, Maryland, US
Fri, Jun 26, 1992
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Frederick C.
MD, USA 30 Aug 2022
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