President Obama Awards College of Education Alumna Candy Ellard - January 6th, 2010

University of Texas at Austin College of Education alumna Candy Ellard was honored by President Obama with a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in a Jan. 6 White House event focused on STEM education. Ellard has worked with The University of Texas at Austin’s UTeach program for the past seven years, in addition to being a science and mathematics teacher at Pillow Elementary School in Austin.

At the White House ceremony, the President honored more than 100 outstanding mathematics and science educators—the latest winners of Presidential awards for excellence in STEM teaching and mentoring.

The Presidential Award acknowledges the importance, influence, and hard work of great science and math teachers. President Obama said, "From the moment a student enters a school, the single most important factor in their success is the person in front of the classroom. They should be valued and they should be honored."

Candy Ellard has taught science and mathematics at Pillow Elementary School in the Austin Independent School District for seven years. She has been a leader on Pillow Elementary's Campus Advisory Council, which strives to raise state assessment scores. These efforts have succeeded as mathematics and science scores among the school's fifth graders have soared. Many of her fifth graders come from low-income homes.

Ms. Ellard is known for her dedication--arriving early, staying late, and tutoring any student who needs it. She has won praise for her ability to make science and mathematics interesting and understandable to a diverse group of students and for her commitment to teaching in a high-needs district. She insists that students use scientific vocabulary and understand the concepts behind class projects.

Special experiences in Ms. Ellard's class include a walking field trip to reward students who meet schoolwork criteria, an annual fifth grade overnight camping trip, and Austin's five-day Earth Camp science program on water use. Ms. Ellard is active in implementing science and invention fairs. Her planning helps the school's science fair winners enter the Austin Energy Regional Science Festival, where many students receive first-place ribbons.

Ms. Ellard was invited to join The University of Texas at Austin's National Science Foundation-sponsored outreach program titled The Young Scientists through the Center for Synthesis, Growth, and Analysis of Electronic Materials. Her students registered unmatched gains, and most of them were accepted to a magnet program; she eventually led the required Young Scientists multiweek teacher professional development sessions. For the past seven years, she has worked with the UTeach program at The University of Texas at Austin, a program mentioned in President Obama's recent Race to the Top speech. She mentors college students and helped many of her peers deliver quality lessons.

Ms. Ellard was Pillow Elementary's 2008 Teacher of the Year.

Ms. Ellard has a bachelor’s degree in education from East Texas Baptist University and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from UT Austin. She is certified in elementary education and teaching English as a second language.

UTeach started at The University of Texas at Austin in 1997 as a new way to prepare secondary science, math and computer science teachers. Its strength lies in the unique collaboration between the College of Education and College of Natural Sciences. The program is designed for undergraduates who want to teach, college graduates who are returning for certification, new teachers who want a supportive community or experienced teachers who would like an advanced degree.

UTeach has proven so successful that it is being replicated at universities across the United States – a total of 20 universities as of this year.

—Kay Randall, University Communications, 512-232-3910

Adapted from Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching press announcement.