A Few More PAEMST Pictures

Yesterday pictures were tweeted out by both the National Science foundation and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy of our PAEMST group.

 

2012 PAEMST Winners at the National Science Foundation

President Obama speaks to 2012 PAEMST Winners in the East Room of the White House

Obviously, all the winners are pictured in the first picture.  I got lucky to fit in the crop in the second picture (I'm in the top left corner).

The second picture was tweeted out with a link to the following article that described our visit to the White House and included several quotes from some of the other winners:  President Obama Welcomes Top Science and Math Teachers to the White House

PAEMST Recognition Event - Day 4

If you read my last blog post, you know I didn't get much sleep before these events. My mind was so full of ideas that I didn't fall asleep until 4AM. The alarm went off at 6, and we needed to meet in the lobby to take the buses to the White House at 6:45.

That didn't stop me from having another incredible day. The buses dropped us off at the White House Visitor Center around 7. We spent quite a while outside in the security line. It was in the high 20s, so we got a little chilly. I enjoyed the conversation with a few of the other winners.

The tour of the White House took us in through the lower level, past a few rooms that were roped off (a library and a room full of past china sets) and then up a flight of stairs. At the top of those stairs we found ourselves back in the East Room, where we had met the President just a few hours ago. We were not allowed to take any pictures on this tour.

Three high school girls in front of us heard myself talking with a couple of the other winners about our meeting with President Obama in this room the day before and asked us for details. I told them that I shook the President's hand "right there in the same spot that President Kennedy's coffin rested after his assassination."

They asked us why we had that experience and we were able to explain that we we being honored for being some of the best math and science teachers in the country. Maybe we inspired one of them to become a STEM teacher...

This time, the East Room was roped off so that we had to follow a narrow path. The same was true for the Green Room, Blue Room, and Red Room junta we had free access to the day before. It was only now that the depth of yesterday's experience sank in. Few of us had realized how special the access we had yesterday was.

From the White House we walked about 5 or 6 blocks to meet our guests at National Geographic's headquarters to see an advance screening of their new show, Cosmos. It was explained to us that we were to be the first group of people in the world to see the first episode.

I loved the show. It is based of a show of the same name by Carl Sagan years ago. This version is hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, one of my personal idols. The show debuts on TV on March 9th, and I can't wait to see more. As a gift, National Geographic gave us each a copy of Carl Sagan's book, Cosmos and a really awesome poster showing the history of the universe compressed into a calendar year.  Unfortunately, I had no way to transport that poster around, so I didn't take one.

From National Geographic, we parted with our guests and made our way to buses that took us to the National Science Foundation Headquarters in Arlington, VA. We heard from the acting Director of NSF and then had lunch meetings with different assistant directors. My group of about 10 math winners met with NSF's education staff, and we had an excellent discussion about ways to get more excellent STEM teachers into positions that influence policy decisions, pre-service teacher teacher training in STEM, and the need for better content-specific math and science pedagogical knowledge among current teachers.  It was times like this - when the Assistant Director in charge of the National Science Foundation's education efforts was asking me for advice on how we could improve STEM education in the United States that I realized the magnitude of the award I had won.

Acting Director of NSF, Cora Marrett

Pennsylvania Winners with Director Marrett

NSF Atrium

When out meetings were done for the day, I took the Metro over to the Smithsonian to meet up with Lori, who had toured the Holocaust Museum earlier. We had a snack in the Museum of American History Cafeteria, walked through the Natural History Museum's mammal, ocean, and gem exhibits, and then took a taxi back to the Omni.

Jim Henson exhibit at American History Museum

Marie Antoinette's earrings

For dinner, we met both my sets of parents, who just got into town for tomorrow's awards ceremony, at Founding Farmers. This restaurant was very highly recommended by others who had spent time in DC before, and got good reviews on Yelp. Dinner was excellent. I had the shrimp and grits, and Lori had the chicken and waffles. We split the cornbread appetizer, which was really good, but were too full for dessert afterwards.

After dinner we said goodbye to all of my parents and spent some time with other winners and their wives/guests at the restaurant and a place called Bayou 'celebrating' Fat Tuesday. It'll be another night of short sleep. The buses to the awards ceremony leave for the National Academy of Sciences at 7AM.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:George Washington Memorial PK,Arlington,United States

PAEMST Recognition Trip - Day 3

What an absolutely long and amazing day!  It's late (after midnight), and I feel like I haven't really slept in days, but I'm still awake, even though I have to be on a bus back to the White House at 6:45 AM I'm going to try and get my thoughts down.

The day started with everyone meeting in the lobby at 7:45.  Because of the snow all government offices were shut down and the busses weren't running.  Fortunately, the White House and the National Science Foundation were able to still continue with today's events.  Instead of busses, we walked a few blocks in the snow to the Metro, rode, and then walked a few blocks to the White House. We were told to carry our dress shoes with us and to wear appropriate footwear for the snow.  I didn't have boots with me, so I rolled up my suit pants and wore my running shoes.  Being from northeastern PA, I thought they were really making more of this 3 inch snow than necessary.

The Mickey tie I wore to meet the President

Most of the day was spent listening to speakers from different government agencies.  I really wish we had more time to network and learn from the other winners.  I felt like I had to sit quietly all day in a room full of amazing knowledge without being able to tap into it.  That's a shame.

Me next to a photo on the wall of the President

 We had a bag lunch with a soda around noon.  Other than that, there wasn't anything to drink.  But we all got through it with building excitement as we got closer to the last item on our agenda - Photo with the President at 4:45.

NCTM President Linda Gojak and I

Presidential M&Ms - one of our gifts

Presidential Hershey's Kisses

Around 4PM we were done and were given a few minutes to relax and look around (a little) the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.  It was the headquarters for the United States WW II operations.

Next, we walked next door to the front door of the White House.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was at the White House today, and we walked past his car as we made our way.  It had an Israeli Flag on the hood.

After we got into the White House we were escorted to the East Room.  We got onto risers for the photo and I made sure to go right to the middle where the President would be standing.  In the picture, I am right behind him.  We haven't gotten a copy yet.  I'll surely post it when we do.  No pictures of inside the White House are allowed to be posted other than that.

We had to wait about 20 minutes for the President.  In that time his top Science and Technology advisor told us how important we were for the success of the country and how much our work was valued.  He then left to go get the President from the Oval Office.

While we waited for their return, the White House Usher told us the history of the East Room.  It is used for state dinners, press conferences, and it is where Presidents who die in office Rest in State.  The most recent time this happened was when President Kennedy was assassinated.  I was standing 10 feet from where his coffin rested.

There was a hush when the doors opened and we could see the President walking down the red carpet in the hallway toward us.  It is the same route that we've all seen him walk during press conferences to get to the podium before, but this time there was no podium.  Being in the middle of the risers, he was right in front of me as he talked about his own experiences in school, how he didn't do well in math in high school because he "goofed off", how he's amazed by what his daughters are learning about science and math, and how honored he was to have us here at the White House.  He told us he was proud of us, and that what we are being recognized needs to be spread to other teachers, and that we are ensuring the success of the United States in the future.

We then took a group picture with him.  Then, he turned to us and said that he would like to shake each of our hands.  We quickly formed a line and took a few seconds each with him.  My exchange with him was this:

Me:  "Mr. President, it's a pleasure to meet you.  I'm Mike Soskil from Pennsylvania."

President Obama:  "It's nice to meet you.  Thank you for what you do for our country."

Wow.  That's pretty awesome.  Those 10 seconds were powerful.  And the President of the United States has very soft hands.  He must moisturize regularly.

After that, we were ushered into the Green Room, the Blue Room, and the Red Room where the White House Usher told us a little about each room.  At that point, we were still told that we were not allowed to take pictures.

Finally, it was time to leave.  We were told that we could take a few pictures on the way out, but not post them online.  At that realization, 102 teachers scattered like there was an Easter Egg hunt with $100 bills stuffed in the eggs.  People were trying to get as many pictures as they could in as many places as they could before we got kicked out.  I got a lot of really neat pictures that very few people have ever had the opportunity to take before we left.

We then left floating on Cloud 9 and walked giddily to the Metro to go back to the hotel.

One guy came running past and said to us, "I've never seen regular people coming out the front entrance of the White House before.  What's going on?"  We explained to him that we were award winning teachers. He said, "Meeting you is as close as I'll ever get to meeting the President."

So I asked him if he wanted a picture with me.  He asked if I were a Congressman.  I said, "Not Yet."

The runner and I

When we got back to the hotel, we only had 30 minutes to get ready for our Award Dinner.  We aren't actually getting our awards until Wednesday morning, but this is our one chance to get fancy for a dinner.  Dinner was nice, and we got some nice swag from math, science, and education companies. Lori looked fantastic.

 After dinner Lori and I spent time with some great new friends and their guests/spouses in the hotel lounge talking about the things we are all so passionate about - great teaching, STEM, empowering students, overcoming the culture of standardized testing we face, etc.  It was another absolutely incredible day.

Tomorrow we are headed to the White House for a tour at 6:45AM, then to National Geographic Headquarters for a private screening of Cosmos, and finally to the National Science Foundation.