May 5, 2006

Pre-college Engineering Academy Teacher receives Presidential Award

President George W. Bush honored science teacher Nancy Schunke, from Dunbar Middle School in Lubbock, as a recipient of the 2005 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the nation’s highest honor for science and math teachers.

In a citation given to Schunke, President Bush commended her “for embodying excellence in teaching, for devotion to the learning needs of the students, and for upholding the high standards that exemplify American education at its finest.”

Schunke is the only science winner from Texas and one of only 100 7th-12th grade teachers nationwide to receive the prestigious award.

Established in 1983 by an Act of Congress, the annual awards are administered on behalf of the White House by the National Science Foundation. Each year, recipients are chosen from all 50 states and four jurisdictions: Washington, DC; Puerto Rico; Department of Defense Education Activity Schools; and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands.

Teachers are selected for the awards based on their contributions in the classroom and to their profession. Recipients are considered leaders in their profession and community.