STEM education is paramount for creating future leaders and innovators in science which is at the heart of understanding our complex world. I am deeply humbled to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and to contribute to shaping the young minds of our nation. This award recognizes the dedication to my deep love of science, conservation, the environment, and the importance of the human connections between a teacher, her students, and her community.

Helen Corveleyn Hopewell, NJ | K-6, Science, 2020

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

Helen Corveleyn is a STEM Facilitator with 13 years' teaching experience in STEM at Hopewell Elementary School (HES) and Montgomery Middle School. As a Governor's Educator of the Year award recipient (2019), New Jersey County Teacher of the Year (2020), and "I Can STEM NJ Role Model" for the New Jersey STEM Pathways Network (2021), Helen is dedicated to promoting elementary STEM education. Her passion is inspiring young people to become planetary stewards who communicate scientific ideas and promote innovation in science and sustainability. Helen serves as Director of Gardens at HES including outdoor soil and indoor hydroponic gardens to support the award-winning “Best in New Jersey 2018” Farm-to-School Program. She runs the Nature Harmony Project which infuses STEM and the arts with social emotional learning in an outdoor education setting. Helen created the HES Green Team and is a member of the Hopewell District Green Team which conceived a townwide earth week to promote environmental justice issues. She is a Board Trustee of both the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space and the Hunterdon Somerset Mercer County STEM Ecosystem. She teaches graduate students at The College of New Jersey in Environmental Leadership and Conservation Biology at Miami University of Ohio. Her international field work with Project Dragonfly includes studying island biogeography and whale sharks in Baja, Mexico; orangutans and sustainable palm oil in Borneo, Malaysia; and creating a multimedia-based conservation campaign to support the Belize Zoo and Maya Forest Corridor. Helen is certified in kindergarten through eighth grade elementary education. She has an M.A.T., summa cum laude, in conservation biology from Miami University of Ohio and a B.S. in environmental policy from Marist College.

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