DPS Teacher Wins Prestigious $175,000 Career Award
Matt Sears
March 3, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Chris Bennett, Assistant Superintendent Secondary Curriculum and Instruction, 919-560-2597
DURHAM—Matthew Sears, a mathematics teacher at Hillside New Tech High School, is one of five North Carolina teachers to win the prestigious Career Awards for Science and Mathematics Teachers from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.
The award provides $175,000 over five years to public primary and secondary teachers in North Carolina who have demonstrated solid knowledge of science or mathematics content, and have outstanding performance records in educating children.
In addition to salary support, the award provides $10,000 per year to be used at the discretion of the teacher for professional development activities, travel and registration to meetings or conferences, hiring substitutes, networking with colleagues, and capacity building opportunities at the school or school district. The teachers will have opportunities for professional development and collaboration with other master science or mathematics teachers.
The teachers will also have $10,000 per year to purchase needed equipment and supplies for that teacher’s classroom or laboratory, or to be shared with the teacher’s school or school district. The awardees were selected from a nominated pool of applicants and interviewed by the program’s advisory committee.
Sears is in his third year of teaching at New Tech High. He was the 2008 Durham Public Schools Teacher of the Year and he also is a Kenan Fellow, and in fall 2008 he spent a semester teaching in India as a Fulbright Exchange Teacher.
“Matt Sears is the kind of teacher every student wishes he or she could have. He is very deserving of this prestigious honor,” said Interim Superintendent Hank Hurd. “His expertise in his field combined with his true passion for education and compassion for his students makes Matt the consummate educator. We are extremely proud of him and we know his students are, too!”
