Mark Paricio Aurora, CO | 7-12, Science, 2013

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

Mark Paricio has taught science in the Cherry Creek School District for 27 years, spending the last 11 years at Smoky Hill High School in Aurora, CO. He teaches Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and Honors Physics to 10th-12th graders. Mark’s motto: “Science is not a spectator sport.” He engages his students with hands-on projects. Whether building and launching catapults in the hallway or rowing cardboard boats in the school pool, Mark’s students find the need to apply physics and ingenuity to solve practical problems. For seven years, Mark has partnered with the ACE Mentor Program to give his students the opportunity to work with professional engineers, architects, and construction managers to design solutions for development projects in the Denver area. Mark spent the 2012 summer in Siberia, working with scientists of the Polaris Project as a PolarTREC teacher, as well as blogging to his students about the processes of international climate change research. Mark has a B.S. in chemical engineering from Colorado State University, a M.S. in environmental engineering from Colorado School of Mines, and a M.A. in secondary curriculum and instruction from the University of Colorado. Mark is a National Board Certified Teacher and holds a Master Teacher certification in secondary science.

• High-resolution version of the official portrait photograph
• Awardee holding Presidential certificate between Megan Smith, U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Director of the National Science Foundation, Dr. France A. Còrdova.
• High-resolution version of the teacher profile photograph

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