By Laura Lane
Battista never thought she'd win. When word arrived that she'd won the prestigious award for science, she was surprised. Winning earned Battista $10,000, a meeting with President Bush and a sit-down with Sen. Hillary Clinton. A week later, she was off to Washington, D.C., a place she'd never visited.
"I never knew the magnitude of this award," said Battista, 33. "It was amazing how we were treated, like royalty."
Battista joined the other winners from across the nation for breakfast on Capitol Hill, and then to meet Bush in the White House. "I was in a group [photograph] with President Bush, who was very gracious and personable," said Battista. "He told us that he was proud of us and how important education is. I even was able to shake hands with him."
Clinton requested that the two New York winners stop by her office so she could speak with them privately. Battista recalled, "Hillary asked both of us about our schools and what we teach. She said she was proud that both of us were women. I think she was referring to the research that says that women don't do as well in math and science."
The 95 winners also met with Bush's top educational advisers. "We told them our concerns," said Battista. "Some teachers were upset about the increase in testing, which [the advisers] said they'd pass on to the president."
To be considered for the Presidential Award, Battista had to fulfill several requirements. She needed a recommendation from her building principal, two other letters of recommendation and a video of herself teaching. She was sure she could depend on the children at Old Mill Road to help her make an effective video.
"I wanted to do this last year, because I had a fabulous group of kids who loved science," said Battista. "I had to prepare a lesson to be videotaped, which included a science experiment, and group work. Then I picked a three-minute segment where I was teaching my best."
The children in Battista's class were so involved in the process that when word arrived that their former teacher had won, they felt as though they had won, too. "It's so exciting for us that she won," said fifth-grader Kacie Spielman. "It was so much fun making that video. After we were done, we were proud of it."
Being videotaped doing an experiment only seemed natural for her class, because Battista has children performing experiments often, an approach she believes makes science fun. "I didn't like science before I had Miss Battista," said Michael Grosane, one of her students from last year. "But she made science more interesting by doing the experiments. In some classes you just read."
Instructing science wasn't fourth-grade teacher Corinne Armstrong's favorite part of the day until she worked with Battista. "Angela is a wonderful teacher and extremely dedicated," said Armstrong. "I didn't enjoy teaching science before, but Angela's enthusiasm is contagious. She's a mentor in science for all of the fourth-grade teachers."
New Principal Laura Leudesdorff hasn't worked with Battista long, but said she's impressed by her. "We're all very proud of her. Angela brings things to life for the children and engages them, challenges them, but makes learning fun," said Leudesdorff. "She brightens up this place, and I'm proud to be working with her."
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