Press Release from NEIC, April 24, 2010

THE NEW ENGLAND INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTS (NEIC) ANNOUNCES THE SECONDARY SCHOOL CHEMISTRY TEACHER AWARDS FOR 2010.

The New England Institute of Chemists (a division of The American Institute of Chemists) today announced the recipients of the 17th annual NEIC Secondary School Teacher Awards at its Annual Awards Dinner at Brandeis University. The award, given annually to one secondary school chemistry teacher from each of the New England States, recognizes outstanding contributions of teachers who have encouraged an interest in the field of chemistry through innovative and inspirational teaching, improved the image of chemists and chemistry, promoted extracurricular activities relevant to chemistry, and offered opportunities to students who might otherwise miss the “chemistry” experience. Awardees are selected by the NEIC from nominations submitted by their colleagues in education. Receiving the awards for 2010 are: Deborah J. Rodolfy, Rutland High School, Rutland,VT; Richard J. Cushing , Cranston High School East, Cranston, RI; Larry S. Cohen, Billerica High School, Billerica, MA; Eric P. Nash, Winnacunnett High School, Hampton, NH; Fred Vital, Fairfield Ludlowe High School, Fairfield,CT.

The recipient of the NEIC 2010 Secondary School Chemistry Teacher Award from Vermont is Ms. Deborah Rodolfy from Rutland High School, Rutland, Vermont. Ms. Rodolfy has been teaching Chemistry at Rutland High School for 22 years. She has been involved in the improvement of her school by developing a Professional School Collaborative with Castleton College, VT. She is on several committees, notably the Rutland High School Department of Education Data Team, Vision Quest, and High School on the Move. She teaches Honors Chemistry and Advanced Placement Chemistry. It was her desire to make chemistry available to EVERY student, thus she became part of a team to design and write a chemistry curriculum that would meet the needs of the non-­‐college-­‐bound students. She stresses fairness and equity in her classroom, feeling that they are essential to making decisions that are best for the student. In her honors classes she utilizes many lab exercises and demonstrations to promote hands-­‐on learning. In the summer Ms. Rodolphy teaches a forensics class in “YES,” a Year End Studies program. In this class forty students learn about crime scene techniques such as fingerprinting and blood spatter-­‐using fake blood, of course. The class ends with a murder mystery, which the students must solve. In addition to all of these activities, she is the Department Chair. She was also the 2006 University of Vermont Outstanding Teacher.