Winning the Presidential Award is the greatest honor of my career. As a first grade teacher, I hope I can inspire early educators to prioritize science in their classrooms. Young children are curious about the world around them, and studying science helps build their academic and critical thinking skills in engaging ways. Our role is to help students see themselves as capable learners who can ask questions and conduct scientific investigations for themselves.

Laura Richardson Chestnut Hill, MA | K-6, Science, 2020

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

Laura Richardson has been a classroom teacher at the Edith C. Baker School for 17 years. She taught kindergarten for one year and has been teaching first grade for the past 16 years. Laura is an enthusiastic educator with a passion for infusing science education and technology across the curriculum. She has developed a range of inquiry-based science lessons used across her district and pioneered the use of independent student blogs to showcase children’s learning in innovative ways. She has presented at the international Building Learning Communities conferences on topics ranging from Growth Mindset to Using Student Blogs to Global Connectivity and has been a guest speaker at a range of local universities. She was a member of the Teachers Advisory Cabinet for the state of Massachusetts and was an Educator Preparation Program Reviewer. Laura recently wrote and presented an EdTalk aimed at inspiring elementary school teachers to feel more confident teaching science. She has served as a grade level facilitator in both science and mathematics and as a mentor to first year teachers and student teachers at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She was awarded a Merck grant via Smarter, Together for her students to investigate ladybug life cycles and has been an Expert Reviewer for National Geographic children’s books. Laura has a B.A., cum laude, in education from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.Ed. in science education from Lesley University. She is certified in both elementary education and early childhood education with and without disabilities.

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