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Kirkwood Teacher of the Year Robert Becker is Finalist for Missouri Teacher of the Year
August 20, 2010
Robert Becker, Kirkwood School District Teacher of the Year for 2010-11, has been selected as one of six state finalists in the 2010-11 Missouri Teacher of the Year program. Nominations for the annual award were submitted by 47 school districts from across the state. A selection committee appointed by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reviewed the candidates’ written applications and chose the finalists Tuesday, Aug. 17.
Becker, who holds a master’s degree in education from Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Yale University, teaches traditional, honors and Advanced Placement (AP) chemistry at Kirkwood High School. He has taught in the Kirkwood district for 20 of his 26 years in education.
His work with students extends beyond the classroom walls and includes his serving as sponsor the Chemistry Club, which he founded in 2001, and sponsor of the Kirkwood Youth Service Club (KYS). As the high school’s service learning organization, KYS supports projects throughout the school and community including blood drives, canned food drives, electronics recycling drives, Habitat for Humanity, Lydia’s House, and other charitable organizations. Each fall Becker and the Chemistry Club students host a booth at the Kirkwood Greentree Festival where they sell the hundreds of tie-dye shirts and infant clothing they make. The funds raised from their successful booth are donated to worthy causes as determined each year by the club members.
Becker has also served as a mentor for 12 student teachers over the past 16 years, including one who is working with him this school year.
As an educator, Becker has been recognized nationally with the James Conant Bryant Award for Excellence in Chemistry Teaching and the Tandy Technology Scholar Award. Locally, he has earned the American Chemistry Society’s Midwest Regional Award and the Saint Louis Sectional Award. The Chemical Manufacturing Association presented him the Regional Catalyst Award.
In addition to the many articles he has published in print and electronically, Becker has also presented workshops to chemistry teachers throughout the world. In March 2010, he was a presenter at the Kuwaiti Chemical Society’s Symposium for High School Chemistry Teachers in Kuwait City, Kuwait. In 2004 and 1994, he presented to the Irish Science Teacher Association in Dundalk, Ireland. He has led workshops throughout the United States including presentations for the National Science Teachers Association Convention and the Flinn Scientific Summer Workshop Team.
Becker and the five other state finalists will be interviewed in Jefferson City on Aug. 30. The State Board of Education is expected to announce the Missouri Teacher of the Year in September and will formally honor the six finalists during a banquet in Jefferson City on Nov. 15.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education conducts the Missouri Teacher of the Year program with financial support provided by The Boeing Company, St Louis. For more information about the program and the finalists, visit the DESE website.
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Contact
Ginger Fletcher, Director of Community Relations/Development; 314-213-6100, ext. 7851; 314-600-7773 (cell); ginger.fletcher@kirkwoodschools.org
Nona King, Communications Coordinator; 314-213-6100, ext. 7802; 314-520-6728 (cell); nona.king@kirkwoodschools.org
