The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is a distinguished service award of teachers for their outstanding education of students. Being nominated for the Presidential Award is an accomplishment in and of itself. It means recognizing a teacher for their continual impact to the education of students through the culmination of teaching, collaborating, and helping the education system and culture within the school community succeed.

Arnold Talero Firth, NE | 7-12, Mathematics, 2023

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

Arnold E. Talero has been teaching mathematics at Norris High School in Nebraska for the past 17 years. Prior to teaching, he worked as an engineer for 14 years. Arnold made a career change into mathematics education because of his enjoyment of teaching high school. His previous experience as an engineer has given him the unique opportunity to share and work with students on projects involving real life use of mathematics concepts learned in the classroom that emphasize STEM and STEAM applications. Students in Arnold's classroom participate in conceptually related projects for the connection of mathematics theory to real life problem solving. Arnold is part of a school district committee – which includes board members, school administrators and grade level teachers – for student support and advancement of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Arnold has specifically tried to promote the provision of curricular and personal resources for Spanish speaking students, not only in mathematics, but in a way to help them succeed in all subjects at the high school. Arnold is fluent in Spanish and helps Spanish speaking families and students assimilate into the school system. In the case where ELL students have deficient mathematics skills, Arnold has helped provide grade-level curriculum for them to practice and develop their skills. In addition to teaching mathematics at Norris, Arnold has coached soccer for the past 15 years and is currently the head girls’ soccer coach. Arnold has an M.S. in engineering and an M.A. in mathematics teaching, both from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is certified by the state as a secondary education in mathematics teacher.

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