Lacey Hoosier

Deville, LA | 7-12, Science, 2023

What motivates you to contribute to excellence in STEM teaching?

I am driven by a deep passion for empowering students through hands-on, real-world science experiences. I strive to spark curiosity, build confidence, and prepare future leaders to tackle global challenges with STEM-based solutions that make a lasting impact. When you make an impact through STEM teaching in the classroom environment, you build a future doctor, teacher, welder, or President. Changing the world through science motivates me each and every day.

What has been the most transformative moment that affirmed your impact on STEM education?

The most transformative moment was when my STEM students won the Future Engineers NASA competition for Louisiana and earned the opportunity to build an experiment from scratch that launched into the stratosphere on a NASA-led mission. Watching them collect impactful UV data and realize their potential as real-world scientists affirmed the power of hands-on STEM education to inspire, empower, and transform lives.

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

As a Presidential Awardee, I hope to amplify the voices of underrepresented students and educators, advocate for equitable access to hands-on STEM experiences, and inspire a nationwide shift toward experiential, interdisciplinary learning. By mentoring teachers, sharing best practices, and driving innovation in environmental and real-world science education, I aim to cultivate a future-ready generation equipped to lead in a rapidly evolving STEM landscape.

Biography

Angela "Lacey" Hoosier has been a high school science teacher for 18 years in Louisiana. She coached boys and girls powerlifting for many years and sponsored more than 9 different clubs and teams. Her course load has included STEM, DE Anatomy, DE Biology, Earth Science, Medical Terminology, Physics, Environmental Science and Bio 2. Lacey's love for science is evident in all that she does both at school and in her community. She has created an outdoor classroom, has led wildlife workshops for kids across her parish, and works to use nature and travel photography to educate those in her community. Lacey works diligently to offer differentiated education opportunities to all of her students. She created a STEM class at her school and has earned more than $60,000 in grants to help her fund this program, as well as others. Her students have worked with NASA to send a data-collection experiment to the stratosphere, have won state STEM competitions, and were selected as state finalists for the Samsung Solve-for-Tomorrow national competition. Lacey has worked with The Morpho Institute to promote conservation through education in the Peruvian Amazon. She uses opportunities such as this to promote environmental and ecological education in her community. Lacey is the recipient of many global, national, and state awards. She was most recently named a Top 50 Global Teacher and was recognized in Paris, France at UNESCO. In addition, she was awarded the 2024 NSTA Shell Science Teaching Award and received more than $10,000 in grants this school year to improve learning. Lacey earned a B.S. in Biology from Louisiana State University at Alexandria and a M.S. in Health and Human Performance from Northwestern State University. She is certified in high school Biology and General Science.

High-resolution version of the teacher profile photograph

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