Madge Nanney Jacksonville, FL | K-6, Science, 2022

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

Madge Nanney has been an educator for 35 years and currently teaches sixth and seventh grade Accelerated Science at Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts. She has taught there for the last nine years. She previously taught at Terry Parker High School, Mandarin Middle School, Arlington Middle, and Douglas Anderson Seventh Grade Center. When seeing a need for more rigorous courses for gifted and academically-talented students, Madge designed an accelerated course that compacted all middle school benchmarks into two years. After adoption by the State Department of Education, she now teaches these courses at Darnell-Cookman. Making science come alive through hands-on, minds-on investigations is the hallmark of Madge’s class. She engages students in STEM activities including building roller coasters, examining microscopic life in a drop of water, or using Punnett squares to create “new life forms”. She sponsors an afterschool science club that allows students to “go deeper” into a science topic that interests them. She enlists high school science teachers to conduct experiments with the students that will pique their interest in higher-level science. Working with science leaders from across the state, Madge designed and delivered a weeklong STEMPOSIUM professional development for three summers. Science teachers were engaged with innovative activities that aligned with the benchmarks. Madge impacts teachers in her district by mentoring, developing curriculum, and writing assessments. Madge has a B.S. and a master's degree in health education, both from the University of Florida. She has certifications in the following areas: health education, middle grades science, biology, earth/space science, educational leadership, and gifted education endorsement.

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