The Presidential Award is a great achievement for excellent teachers who teach young minds to be successful in all content areas. It is such a motivational reward for me, which means that I should not stop at where I am now, but I must continue to inspire all sorts of diverse learning to prepare students to achieve as leaders in future society. Lastly, it is an award for a teacher who creates flexibility in the learning environment which enhances students' capability and desire to learn.

Danielle Aina Pago Pago, AS | 7-12, Science, 2023

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

Danielle Aina has taught science for 11 years at Laulii Elementary School, known as “The Home of the Harbor Light.” During her journey as an educator, she has been involved in STEAM initiated by the Department of Curriculum Instruction under the American Samoa Department of Education. According to her interests, Danielle became an expert in order to teach science to fifth through eighth graders. Even though the school does not have a science lab, she never gives up on teaching science. She creatively utilizes hands-on activities and outdoor observation to motivate the children to enjoy learning science. Danielle’s passion is to teach science and take it to a level where students can create projects using technology and hands-on materials in order to promote learning during lecture and lab work. She has led professional development for science teachers and joined the Teacher Quality Professional Learning Community to assist new teachers and motivate them to upgrade their credentials. Danielle was selected to receive training in order to become a certified Code HS (Computer Science) teacher in 2022. In 2020, she also became a certified Achieve 3000 teacher. She is also certified as an elementary, science, and STEM teacher through the American Samoa Department of Education. In addition to receiving the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, Danielle was the 2022-2023 Laulii Elementary School Teacher of the Year. Danielle received an A.A. in liberal arts and a B.A. in elementary education, both from American Samoa Community College, and an M.A. in education from San Diego State University.

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