Update April 9, 2019

Barksdale Science Teacher Celene Rosen received Board recognition in honor of her selection as a Texas Finalist in the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, and for her Outstanding Texas Educator award by the Texas Academy of Science.

Celene Rosen (left), Barksdale Elementary teacher, was honored by the Board of Trustees at the April 9 meeing. A certificate of excellence in teaching was presented on the board's behalf by Board Vice President Dr. Yoram Solomon. 

Barksdale Elementary Teacher Celene Rosen, who was honored in October 2018 as a Texas Finalist in the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (see more information in Headline News), has been further honored with the Outstanding Texas Educator award by the Texas Academy of Science (TAS). 

Each year TAS recognizes a mathematics or science teacher from Texas as the Outstanding Texas Educator.  The selection of this award is made by the TAS of board of directors from candidates for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

The Outstanding Texas Educator award was presented at the TAS annual conference at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas on March 1-2. Celene had the opportuntiy to present her thoughts on STEM education at the conference.

Pictured are: Barksdale Elementary School Principal Jennifer Caplinger; Outstanding Texas Educator and Barksdale Elementary Teacher Celene Rosen; Chief Operating Officer Dr. Theresa Williams; and Elementary Science Coordinator Mary Swinton. 

Ms. Celene Rosen earned a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in 1980 and a Master of Education in Teaching Leadership from Lamar University in 2010. She joined Barksdale Elementary School in the Plano Independent School District in 2002 and has spent the last 16 years as a 3rd grade science teacher. Beyond this role, Ms. Rosen taught for the Summer Institute for Gifted Students, Plano ISD, from 2008-2017. Ms. Rosen supports her school and district outside of the classroom by serving on and chairing a multitude of committees, mentoring new teachers and student teachers, developing science and mathematics curricula and presenting novel teaching pedagogy to her peers.

Ms. Rosen provides an engaging classroom environment with rigorous, student-centered lessons for over 100 3rd graders annually. Her personal educational ideology of Relationships, Relevance, Real Word Connectedness and Rigor is stressed within the classroom to facilitate growth for all learners.

For her exceptional skills in science education, Ms. Rosen was nominated for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the nation’s highest honor for teachers of science, technology engineering and mathematics, in 2018. She was awarded the Barksdale Elementary Teacher of the Year award in 2006 and the Barksdale PTA Lifetime Member award.

Some of the most meaningful and cherished praise has come from her students. In the words of a former student, “Mrs. Rosen, changed my life in the small period of one year that I spent with her. She was the first teacher I had that was able to see the energy in me and turn it towards an academic goal. Not only that, but with her teaching methods and enthusiasm, she ignited the spark inside me to pursue science.”