Everyday, teachers throughout our country strive to bring the gift of knowledge to their students. The Presidential Award is the pinnacle of recognition of these efforts and the highest honor that a teacher can receive. It acknowledges the dedication of teachers and is a celebration of their accomplishments, as well as that of their students. The award serves as a defining motivation to educators to strive for excellence not only in themselves but, more importantly, in their students.

Vivekanand Balija Basking Ridge, NJ | 7-12, Science, 2021

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

Vivekanand Balija has taught science at William Annin Middle School for the past 11 years. Prior to this, Vivekanand spent six years of his 17-year tenure at Louis Pasteur Middle School, teaching life and earth science courses. He currently teaches sixth grade physical science and eighth grade earth science and STEM science, and previously taught seventh grade life science. Drawing on his prior background as a biochemist and geneticist, Vivekanand brings his love of STEM to his classroom. His students engage in authentic activities such as redesigning weather instruments, creating neighborhood landscape drainage models, and developing weather data sets that are directly related to their community. In addition, he is the co-founder of the Forensics Speech and Debate program at the middle school where he has served as coach for the last seven years. Vivekanand has a strong belief in the importance of collaboration and communication with his colleagues, presenting at numerous professional development seminars focusing on project-based learning, gender equity in the classroom, and alternative assessments. He also helped develop and participated in many outreach programs focusing on technology incorporation and online safety to involve families in the school community. Vivekanand has a B.S. in biological sciences, an M.S. in cell and molecular biology, and a Ph.D. in biochemistry, all earned at St. John's University. In addition, he received an M.A. in education from the State University of New York (SUNY), Empire State. He is certified in New Jersey in biological science at all levels, in addition to certification in New York in biology education for grades 5-9.

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