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Churchill teacher is up for presidential award
By Jessica M. Cervantes, Staff Writer : July 30, 2013 : Updated: July 30, 2013 1:38pm
She is among four math finalists in Texas for the 2013 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
The award is the most prestigious recognition a middle or high school math or science teacher may receive in the country for “bringing teaching methods to life in the classroom.”
The process begins with a nomination to the National Science Foundation, which administers the award on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Ferguson received her nomination from a longtime college friend, Jessica Tankersely, who works for NSF.
“Throughout each of our careers, we would have conversations about goals and strategies being used in education,” Ferguson said.
“When it came time for nominations, she knew of the National Science Foundation qualifications and nominated me.”
Ferguson hadn't realized her passion for teaching until she graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a master's degree in computer science.
She worked for major cell phone companies after college where she developed projects only to find her work scrapped but discovered that she wanted a career with a “lasting effect.”
“With teaching your contribution is passed on through each child's life,” she said. “You are involved in the whole child's destiny.”
She spent more than six years teaching in Irving, Texas, until she decided she wanted a change of pace, more specifically a big city with a small-town feel.
Ferguson applied for teaching positions in San Antonio and accepted a job at Churchill, which she described as an “instant fit.”
Once Ferguson learned of her nomination while vacationing in Hawaii, she was required to complete the three-component application process of administrative paperwork along with narrative and video elements.
For the video, Ferguson filmed a 45-minute uninterrupted class about ellipses.
Ferguson said it's a difficult lesson for students to learn: In math, an ellipse is a curve on a plane surrounding two focal points such that a straight line drawn from one of the focal points to any point on the curve and then back to the other focal point contains the same length for every point on the curve.
But the challenge wasn't the subject matter, she said. It was modifying a traditional lesson into an exploratory one where students received just enough information in order to learn by asking questions that would eventually lead to a new lesson.
Ferguson took the lesson outside of the classroom and allowed her students to graph ellipses on a 10-foot-by-10-foot graph in the hallway instead of graphing on a piece of paper.
Students also presented their findings on video, which required using math vocabulary with communication skills.
“As the world changes, education changes,” she said. “The working world requires students to be more creative now.”
Her narrative element addressed the video, education goals and philosophies, where Ferguson focuses on minimal straight-from-the-book teaching, active learning and group involvement work.
Ferguson said the math classroom should be fun for all students including those who aren't interested in math.
She integrates reading and writing in class to teach her students that communicating their ideas is one of the most important lessons that they will use in the future.
“I see life as a giant word problem,” she said. “You are constantly strategizing how to accomplish things and tackle problems.
“A student may not use ellipses again, but they worked through a problem, a plan and stuck with it. We always use that in life.”
Although the national finalists for the PAEMST award won't be announced until next summer, Ferguson said she is simply enjoying the nomination's honor along with the excitement to work on strengthening the “high quality” department she leads as instructional dean of mathematics at Churchill.
If Ferguson wins the award, she will receive a paid trip for two to Washington, D.C., a citation signed by President Obama and a $10,000 gift.