The Presidential Award is truly an incredible honor! As a minority in the field of education, I am sensitive to the needs of all students. This award validates my hard work and dedication to student growth and success. My passion for science empowers students to engage and persist through challenges, promotes inquiry, discovery, and new approaches to learning. I am grateful for the support of my family, mentors, and colleagues who have encouraged me to continue to grow and thrive as an educator.

Maria Cobb Wilmington, DE | K-6, Science, 2022

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

Maria Cobb has been an educator for 25 years. For the last 15 years, she has taught all subjects in a third grade gifted classroom at Mount Pleasant Elementary School. She previously taught at Southern Elementary School for eight years, Colwyck Elementary School for one year and P.S. DuPont Intermediate School for one year. Maria is the gifted team leader for kindergarten through third grades. She was a co-coordinator for the Odyssey of the Mind Program from 2015 to 2019 and served as a coach for over a decade. Maria is also a science field trip coordinator at her school and secures scholarships for students in need. She recently co-facilitated a summer STEM camp for her school district that gave a diverse group of students opportunities to explore and learn. Maria is an NGSS teacher leader, reviewed test items for alignment, piloted the Amplify Science curriculum, and serves as a teacher trainer. During the pandemic, she created both a YouTube channel and an enrichment website to share science content. Maria uses a variety of classroom activities to engage her students including ‘Skype a Scientist’ which makes connections to the real world and project-based and flipped learning to promote problem solving and teamwork. A bilingual educator, Maria created the "Big Mount, Little Mount" Spanish Academy for students to learn the language and culture of Hispanic and Latino countries. In 2014, Maria traveled to Nicaragua to serve as a translator and lead teachers in fostering experiential learning in the classroom. Maria has a B.S., cum laude, in elementary education and a Master of Instruction from the University of Delaware. She is certified in gifted and talented, special education, English language learners, and as a school principal/assistant school principal.

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