Alumni receive presidential teaching awards

Alumni receive presidential teaching awards

Two Henderson State alumni have been named winners of the 2015 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Amanda Jones, a science teacher at Poyen High School, and Brian Leonard, a mathematics teacher at Lake Hamilton High School, received the nation’s highest honor for math and science teachers in grades K-12.

Each will receive a $10,000 award and a trip to Washington D.C. for professional development activities and an awards ceremony.

Jones has a B.S. in biology from Henderson State, graduating summa cum laude. She earned a M.Ed. in secondary education and curriculum from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock where she won the dean’s award. She was named Grant County Teacher of the Year in 2005, Arkansas’s Outstanding Biology Teacher of the Year in 2012, and Arkansas Senior Beta Club State Sponsor for 2013-2015.

Leonard received a B.S. in mathematics from Henderson, graduating magna cum laude. He earned his M.S., summa cum laude, in mathematics from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Leonard is National Board Certified in adolescence and young adulthood mathematics.