Katherine Coppens

Falmouth, ME | K-6, Science, 2022

What motivates you to contribute to excellence in STEM teaching?

Seeing how excited students become by building connections between concepts and finding their own passion for science or an area of science is one of the best parts of my job! I enjoy supporting other educators, which I've done by mentoring student teachers in my classroom, as a content team leader, and with the column I write for the National Science Teaching Association called "Interdisciplinary Ideas."

Using your platform as a Presidential Awardee, how do you hope to advance our nation in STEM?

I hope to meet other awardees through the alumni network to build bridges between schools in my home state and in our country. By coming together and sharing ideas as well as advocating for the needs of students and educators, we will continue to advance STEM education locally and nationally.

Biography

Katherine “Katie” Coppens began her career teaching in 2002 at Philip W. Sugg Middle School in Lisbon, ME where she taught math and science. Since 2008, she has taught at Falmouth Middle School, where she currently teaches sixth grade science. She also taught high school biology and English in Tanzania in 2007. Building connections with students and empowering them to value their voices is the foundation of Katie's classroom environment. Essential components of her science instruction include inquiry-based, hands-on learning and systems thinking through the integration of concepts. She teaches an interdisciplinary unit in which students take part in a community-based action project. Katie has been a Science Content and Grade level Team Leader at her school and an advisor for the Community Service Club and STEM Club. Since 2018, Katie has written a column on integrating science and literacy called "Interdisciplinary Ideas" for NSTA's "Science Scope" journal and has presented on this topic at local and national conferences. She also wrote a book for NSTA called "Creative Writing in Science: Activities that Inspire." Katie is the author of eight STEM-themed children’s books. Her most recent book won the 2022 Benjamin Franklin Award and the Nautilus Award for young adult nonfiction. She has a B.A., summa cum laude, in psychology with a minor in environmental conservation and an M.A.T. with a concentration in environmental science from the University of New Hampshire. She is a certified K-8, 6-12 Life Science, and 6-12 Social Studies. She serves on the board of the Maine Science Teachers Association (MSTA) and the Maine Environmental Education Association (MEEA).

High-resolution version of the teacher profile photograph

The views expressed in awardee profiles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF or the PAEMST program.