This award is one way to validate science teaching as an anchor in elementary education. We need world citizens who have developed deep connections to the natural world and have a solid foundation in science education to understand and solve our most pressing global problems. I am honored to have the opportunity, as part of my teaching practice and with my colleagues, to develop these connections and skills with our youngest learners. This award supports these efforts.

Amy Clapp Salisbury, VT | K-6, Science, 2022

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

Amy Clapp has been an elementary educator for more than 25 years at Salisbury Community School and for over six years has taught all subjects of fourth grade. In the past, she has served as a science specialist in kindergarten through sixth grade and has taught fifth and sixth grades. She has also served as the Science Curriculum Coordinator for her school district. Connecting students with the outdoors is Amy’s passion and she has developed an outdoor classroom that is used by her students and allows colleagues to develop their own outdoor learning spaces. Her class collaborates with the local Audubon Society to coordinate a schoolwide bird-a-thon each year to raise money for the Audubon’s school programs. After completing a Fund for Teachers fellowship in Costa Rica, she published a beginner’s nature guide, titled Naturally Literate, that is used in schools across Vermont. She shares her expertise in outdoor learning through collaboration with Middlebury College’s teacher program and the Vermont Science Teachers Association. Using field work to teach science concepts is central to her teaching and an integral part of Amy’s professional development. She participated in climate change field work in the Siberian, United States, and the Canadian Arctic through a collaboration between the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States and NSF. In addition to integrating climate change science into lessons with her students, she presented sessions and was the keynote speaker at an NSTA national conference, state conferences, and at the Museum of Science, Boston. Amy earned a B.A. in anthropology from Colby College, a B.S. in elementary education with certification from the University of Montana, and an M.S. in elementary science education from the Vermont State Colleges.

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