To me the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is a great honor and a wonderful affirmation of the value of striving for excellence in the day-to-day working of the classroom. Too seldom are classroom teachers recognized for their hard work and dedication to the welfare of their students. I see the Presidential Award as an honor recognizing all of those who labor mostly in anonymity to bring the best in science and math education to their students.

Linda Parrott Ocean Springs, MS | 7-12, Science, 2009

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

Linda Parrott has been an educator for 20 years and has taught Chemistry, Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry, and International Baccalaureate Chemistry at Ocean Springs High School for the past 10 years. She also taught science and was an assistant principal at Temple Christian Academy in Gulfport, MS. Linda believes that science should be inquiry based and that the science laboratory should be an interesting and safe place for students to learn science. She has presented safety lessons to her colleagues in the science department to encourage them to safely use the laboratory and inquiry-based lessons. Linda led the science and mathematics clubs to present a Science and Math Carnival for children in the community. The children were fascinated by the fun activities, and the high school students enjoyed working with them. Linda's work with the Live Oak Writing Project has led her to use, and lead others to use, writing to help students come to a deeper understanding of science concepts. Linda has a B.S. in Biology/Microbiology from the University of Memphis and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from William Carey College; she has also completed graduate work in chemistry at the University of Southern Mississippi. She is certified in biology, chemistry, and AP Chemistry and is a National Board Certified Teacher.

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