A teacher in the Izard County School District has won a national award. Courtney Selph recently learned she is the national recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) for 2022. She was one of two teachers to win the state award to earn the chance at the national award. The awards for 2021, 2022 and 2023 were just recently announced after being delayed due to the Covid pandemic.
Arkansas Commissioner of Education Dr. Jacob Olivia honors Courtney Selph as the state science winner of the Presidential Award for excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).
Selph began her teaching career at Izard County in 2010 as a third grade teacher. After five years, she became a science teacher for third and fourth graders. For the past two years, she has served as the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Coordinator for preschool through 12th grade at Izard County.
She was nominated for the PAEMST award by the science and math coordinator at the North Central Cooperative. Selph says she then had to submit a lengthy application which she compared to the one she had to send for her national boards.
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Selph says winning the award has paid off in several ways. She says it has made her a better teacher and it has help Izard County integrate the STEM program throughout the entire school.
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Part of the award is a $10,000 prize. Selph says she is going to use that for her family.
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Each Presidential Awardee also receives a certificate signed by the President of the United States and an all-expenses paid trip for an award ceremony. The award ceremony is usually held in Washington DC. Selph was honored recently in Little Rock, but has not heard yet if she will get a trip to the nation’s capitol.
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