Sharon Collins

New York, NY | 7-12, Mathematics, 2023

What motivates you to contribute to excellence in STEM teaching?

My Christian calling to show unconditional love and compassionately help people by following in Jesus' footsteps are the reasons I became a teacher. As an educator, I strive to make lasting contributions to my community. My Hispanic students are my biggest motivation to bring passion, joy and enthusiasm to STEM teaching; they and their families escaped poverty and oppression so they could receive an education, become first generation college students (like I was), and achieve the American Dream.

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

Receiving this Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching has been my most transformative moment. Life guided this mathematics-loving small town girl to become a mathematics teacher in America’s largest city. Teaching in NYC is my passion and my calling. After I was named a PAEMST Awardee, my school created and hung huge banners outside our school building with the PAEMST emblem and a small poster with my picture announcing me as a PAEMST Winner inside our school. I was invited to speak about teacher leadership at two Teach For America events, the year this organization celebrated its 35th anniversary. Being named a PAEMST Awardee affirmed my commitment to STEM, the teaching profession, education, and my students.

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

As a Presidential Awardee, I am hoping to lead my current school community into becoming a STEM school. My dream is to open my own STEAM school, so students can fall in love with STEM and the arts like I did.. I am interested in being an Astor or Einstein Fellow one day. I plan to continue speaking on the city, state and national levels about the importance of STEM education in America. I am also writing my teaching memoir, which I hope will inspire people to embrace STEM, teaching, and service.

Biography

Sharon Collins has been a teacher for 25 years, spending the last decade at New Heights Academy Charter School teaching Advanced Placement Calculus AB, PreCalculus, and Statistics to 11th and 12th grade students. She previously taught for 11 years at the Bronx Preparatory Charter School and four years at I.S.183-The Paul Robeson Magnet School. Through Teach For America, Sharon changed careers and became an educator after working as an environmental engineer. As New Heights Academy’s Mathematics Department Chairwoman, Sharon mentors new teachers and facilitates professional development. She serves as both Chairwoman of Teach For America New York's Alumni Association Board and Co-President of NYC District 3's Community Education Council. Sharon implements "ratchetdemic" reality pedagogy by fostering strong relationships with her students, sharing her authentic self, and centering students in her classroom. She supports her Spanish-speaking students through bilingual vocabulary study guides and alternative assessments like roundtables and Socratic circles. Sharon is passionate about Women in STEM initiatives and dedicated to humanizing education. Teacher leadership, mindfulness in mathematics, and student representation in mathematics classrooms are talks Sharon has presented locally, at the state level, and nationally. She has been a featured panelist discussing colleges going test-optional and the future of STEM education. Sharon has a B.S., summa cum laude, in chemical engineering from Manhattan College and an M.S. in environmental engineering from Columbia University, studying there on an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. She is a certified secondary school mathematics and chemistry teacher, a Math for America Master Teacher, and has her National Board Certification.

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.