Kenai Peninsula Borough School District graduate and educator Jason Daniels received national recognition as the Science Awardee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching. Daniels has been teaching at K-Beach Elementary School for 24 years and is a Kenai Central High School graduate (class of 1990) now educating the youth of tomorrow. Daniels states that his mom and dad were educators in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District and served as inspirations for his career.
Daniels spoke to KSRM on the recent struggles of teaching science:
“I think where we really need to look closely at is getting out of the book learning in science and more into what the students’ interests are in the phenomena the natural phenomena that they see around them and giving them an opportunity to research those. It’s a real world. It’s a relevant way for the students to learn and I certainly have seen a lot more student engagement in the learning when its something that they have had a part in and they have some ownership in it, and when it’s something that affects their daily life.”
Daniels talks about receiving the award:
“Diane McBee was a former coworker of mine, and she was actually a former presidential winner herself, an excellent teacher. She nominated me. She, over the years, has heard and seen things that I’ve been doing in the classroom and nominated me for the award and then, of course, the work begins with the application process that’s fairly rigorous. It’s actually taken me four years of applications and work in that process to demonstrate my science teaching for this to actually become a reality.”
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