The Presidential Award is the most prestigious award I can attain in my field. It means that I am not only noticed for my contributions to my field and the education of my students, but that I diligently maintain high expectations for myself and my students. I consistently look for ways to improve my craft. Quality teaching is both an art and a science--and this award means that you have mastered both domains. This will be considered my lifetime achievement award and my highest distinction.

Stacy McCormack Mishawaka, IN | 7-12, Science, 2011

The official biography below was current at the time of the award. For this awardee's latest biographical information, see their profile page.

Stacy McCormack is an award-winning physics teacher from Penn High School with 12 years of teaching experience. She is also a distance educator for Ivy Tech Community College and currently teaches online astronomy, physics, and physical science. Stacy feels that she was born to be a science teacher. In the summer of 2006, Stacy spent 3 weeks in Geneva, Switzerland as a U.S. teacher representative at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. She is also the author of Teacher Friendly Physics, a book that helps teachers create inexpensive guided-inquiry lab-based experiences with physics. Stacy has received many teaching honors, including Outstanding Future Educator, First Year Teacher of the Year, Armstrong Teacher Educator, Penn-Harris-Madison Teacher of the Year, the National Honor Roll’s Outstanding American Teacher, and 2011 Indiana State Teacher of the Year, and she was a Disney’s American Teacher award nominee. Stacy is the 2011 American Association of Physics Teachers' Zitzewitz award winner for precollege physics teaching. Stacy has a B.S. in secondary chemistry education from Indiana University and an M.A.Ed. in physics education from Ball State University.

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