I became a teacher because I wanted to share my passion for science with young people and inspire them to think critically about the world around them. The Presidential Award is a tremendous and humbling honor, and reminds me of that decision and the power and responsibility of being an educator. I view it not as an individual award, but one shared by the thousands of students who have entered my classroom, and the scores of teachers I have worked with and learned from in the past 10 years.

Michael Doody New Castle, DE | 7-12, Science, 2023

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

Michael "Mike" Doody has been a teacher for 10 years, all at William Penn High School. For the past nine years, he has taught Chemistry and Advanced Placement Environmental Science. Before that, he taught Integrated Science for one year. Through fellowships with the Delaware Teachers Institute and the Yale National Initiative to strengthen teaching in public schools, Mike has developed a series of curriculum units that provide students with authentic science experiences, local relevance, and a level of rigor above and beyond traditional curricula. He provides students with opportunities to plan and carry out investigations, collect and analyze data, and construct explanatory models based on evidence. For example, his chemistry students designed an experiment to test the solubility of oyster shells in solutions of different pH as part of a unit on acids and bases, and his environmental science students used satellite images and GIS to model how our school campus handles stormwater in various rainfall scenarios. The students were then able to propose upgrades and modifications that would reduce the school's runoff. As the Science Department Chair, Mike works with his colleagues and supervising administrators to plan and carry out effective, enriching, and engaging professional development ranging from culturally-responsive instructional strategies to content-based field work in partnership with local NGOs. Mike earned a B.S. in environmental science from Towson University and an M.S. in plant and soil science from the University of Delaware. He is certified in chemistry and secondary science education and is an active member of the National Science Teaching Association.

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