Rachael Parr Commerce, GA | 7-12, Science, 2009

The official biography below was current at the time of the award.

Rachael Parr has been a science educator for more than 24 years in the Jackson County School District. She has spent the last 14 years teaching seventh grade Life Science at East Jackson Middle School. Rachael’s passion for education exceeds the classroom. She currently serves as the Science Curriculum Leader and as the Science Representative for the Leadership Planning and Evaluation Team for Math and Science Partnership. Her action research and leadership led to the schoolwide implementation of student-led conferencing. Rachael has coordinated a seventh grade overnight trip to St. Simon’s Island for 12 years. The goal is to instill student responsibility for coastal ecosystems. Rachael’s electric vehicle club was the only middle school team in Georgia to compete, winning both in acceleration and troubleshooting. Rachael has served on the State of Georgia Advisory Committee and the Georgia Learning Resource Advisory Committee. She also served as a Georgia Virtual School Curriculum Evaluator. Rachael has a B.S. in Middle School Education from the University of Georgia, and an educational specialist degree in Teaching and Learning and a master's degree in Secondary Science Education from Piedmont College. Rachael is National Board Certified in early adolescence science.

• High-resolution version of the official portrait photograph
• Awardee holding Presidential certificate between NSF Director Subra Suresh and OSTP Director John P. Holdren
• High-resolution version of the teacher profile photograph

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