Owen R. Hopkins Outstanding Earth Science Teacher Award
In 2011, the GCAGS Board of Directors unanimously approved renaming the former “Outstanding Teacher Award” in honor of the late Owen R. Hopkins for his tremendous and invaluable efforts in initiating, developing, and conducting Earth science outreach programs, which include “Maps in Schools”, “Bones in Schools”, and “Boulders in Schools”. The Owen R. Hopkins Outstanding Earth Science Teacher Award carries a monetary award of $1,500 for personal use by the winning teacher and $500 for use for educational purposes under the teacher’s supervision. Also included is an expense-paid trip for the teacher to the GCAGS Annual Convention to receive the award.
The purpose of the Hopkins Award is two-fold: (1) to recognize an outstanding K-12 teacher in the Gulf Coast area and (2) to provide a GCAGS nominee for the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation’s $5,000 Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Natural Resources in the Earth Sciences. Note that because AAPG’s main focus is energy resources, nominees for the AAPG teacher award who include subjects in that area will receive special consideration by AAPG.
Hopkins Award Requirements
1. The nominee must have a minimum of three years of full-time teaching experience at any K-12 level.
2. The nominee must be teaching at least one unit per year on natural resources. Natural resources are defined as Earth materials used by civilizations past and present, such as:
a. Organic materials such as oil, natural gas, and coal.
b. Other energy resources from the Earth, such as geothermal energy.
c. Inorganic substances found in the Earth, such as mineral ores, building stone, and aggregate.
d. Groundwater systems, and water as a limited resource in society.
3. The nominee’s teaching should include the scientific study of these resources, their origin, discovery, historical and present use, and the preservation of the environment as related to their use. The teaching should also include the application of Earth science in decision making.
4. The teaching unit submitted with the nomination will be evaluated on depth and breadth of concepts, creativity of presentation, and balanced treatment of information regarding societal need and environmental issues.
Required Nomination Materials
1. Entrant Information Cover Page
2. Teacher’s philosophy (pedagogy and content) of the teaching of natural resources (2 pages).
3. Description of the teaching unit, including unit objectives (2 to 3 pages).
4. Letter of recommendation from a teaching colleague.
5. Letter of recommendation from a school administrator.
All of the required nomination materials must be submitted by the nominating society to the GCAGS Awards & Nominations Chairman by March 9, 2012 in order to be considered for the 2012 Hopkins Award. The 2012 Hopkins Award winner will then be nominated by GCAGS as an entrant in the AAPG competition for its 2013 Excellence in Teaching Award.
Entrant Information Cover Page