
Four APS Teachers Honored by President
Receive highest honor U.S. government bestows on math, science educators.
Four Albuquerque Public Schools teachers have received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the White House announced Monday.
It’s the highest award K-12 math and science teachers can receive from the U.S. government.
APS teachers honored are:
- Tara Palomares, a Sandia High School geometry and AP calculus teacher
- Kimberly Conell, an AP calculus teacher at La Cueva High School
- Lesha Rupert, who teaches AP biology, anatomy & physiology, and biology at Eldorado High School
- And Christopher Speck, who currently teaches eighth-grade science at Madison Middle School.
They are among five teachers from New Mexico and 336 teachers and mentors from around the country honored by President Joe Biden. Heather Harrell, an Española Public Schools elementary teacher, also received the award.
Nominees for the award must demonstrate deep content knowledge and the ability to adapt to a broad range of learners and teaching environments.
“A panel of distinguished mathematicians, scientists and educators at the state and national levels assess nominations before recommending awardees to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy,” the Biden administration said in a news release. “Teachers are selected based on their distinction in the classroom and dedication to improving STEM education.”
Award winners receive $10,000 from the National Science Foundation.
About the APS awardees
Tara Palomares
Palomares, who holds a B.S. in mathematics and an M.A. in education from Stanford University, has been teaching mathematics for 12 years, the last eight at Sandia.
She said the award honors the teachers, mentors and colleagues who have supported and challenged her.
“Most of all, this honor reflects the daily work and willingness of my students to engage with me, and each other, in the joint endeavor of learning mathematics,” she said in her biography.
Palomares instills in her students the belief that everyone belongs in a mathematics classroom. She encourages multiple approaches on math problems and has students collaborate and support one another’s learning.
A National Board Certified Teacher, Palomares facilitates several professional development groups at her school and is a mentor for teachers pursuing National Board Certification. Palomares also received the Woodrow Wilson Leonore Annenberg Teaching Fellowship and is a Senior Fellow at the Knowles Teacher Initiative.
Kimberly Conell
Conell joined the La Cueva faculty 10 years ago, following a six-year stint at Volcano Vista High.
She called winning the award an enormous honor.
“This award represents the willingness of students to persevere while engaging in challenging curriculum and the exceptional support I have received from a strong administrative team,” Conell said. “This support has allowed me to share my love of math through collaborative learning opportunities that stretch student thinking and build lifelong confidence.”
Before becoming a teacher, she was an electrical engineer. Conell helped design the flight control system for the C-17 Transport Plane and designed key components of the telemetry system used on the Titan Centaur Launching Missile.
She fosters collaboration and critical thinking in her classroom and engages students through such things as scavenger hunts and escape rooms.
Conell advocates for reforms in grading practices that prioritize student growth. She said the shift has had positive outcomes, “including enhanced understanding, increased motivation, reduced anxiety and a love for lifelong learning.”
She has a B.S. in electrical engineering and an M.A. in secondary education.
Lesha Rupert
Rupert has been teaching at Eldorado for her entire career and also teaches online at eCADEMY High School. She started the Eldorado clothing bank in 2011 and has been the school’s Safe Zone liaison for several years.
“Being recognized by the president of the United States for teaching science, particularly at this moment in history, is beyond what I thought possible in my lifetime,” she wrote in her biography.
She encourages students to experience science in unique ways, having them act out protein folding and muscle contraction or asking them to make three-dimensional models of tissues. She has even had them solve crimes using simulated blood and DNA.
Outside of the classroom, Rupert has worked with the state Public Education Department on science standards and was on the APS steering committee for Next Generation Science Standards.
Rupert, who has a B.S. in biology from the University of New Mexico, is National Board Certified in adolescent and young adult life science. She has received a host of teaching awards and recognitions: Golden Apple Fellow, Siemens Advanced Placement Teacher Award, National Association of Biology Teachers New Mexico Outstanding Biology Teacher of the Year, New Mexico Academy of Science Outstanding Science Teacher, and the Sandia National Laboratories/Lockheed Martin Science Teacher of the Year.
Christopher Speck
Speck has been teaching for more than 20 years. Last year he joined the Madison Middle School faculty following a nine-and-a-half-year stint at Garfield STEM School.
Speck said he was honored and humbled by the award, calling it a recognition of the countless hours so many STEM teachers put into their craft.
“My effectiveness as an educator is due to numerous mentors, many opportunities for growth, and the support of friends and family,” he said in his biography.
He views science as a means of understanding the world and developed a curriculum that unites the branches of science. His students engage in hands-on labs to guide inquiry and create understanding.
Speck has served as a content expert for PED as part of the High Quality Instructional Materials Initiative. He took part in an Arctic expedition as part of his National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship, was a visiting teacher at the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology, and spent two summers doing inorganic chemistry at Sandia National Labs Advanced Materials Lab.
Speck has a B.S. and M.A. in elementary education from UNM.