Awards and Recognition Program

This award honors one female student in grades 5–8, who is involved in or has a strong connection to science. The award has been established in honor of Gerry Wheeler, Executive Director Emeritus, and his outstanding dedication to NSTA and lifelong commitment to science education.

Eligibility: Any female student in grades 5–8 who is a resident of the United States, US Territories, or Canada, and is enrolled in full time public, private, or home school. NSTA employees, NSTA Board and Council members, award judges, and their immediate families are NOT eligible to apply.
Award: $1,000 US EE Savings Bond or Canadian Savings Bond purchased for the equivalent issue price. The awardee will be honored at the Teacher Awards Banquet at NSTA's National Conference.

A partnership with Corteva and the National Science Teaching Association, this award is to recognize excellence and innovation in the field of agricultural science education.

Eligibility: This award is open to any K–12 science teacher who incorporates innovative agricultural science activities into their existing science curriculum.
Award: The total awards package includes a $2500 cash award, $1000 towards travel expenses to attend the NSTA national conference on science education, registration for the National conference, one year paid NSTA membership, mentoring with a Corteva Pioneer scientist, classroom resources from Corteva, and access to a Corteva product plant or research facility. One award will be awarded annually.

This award honors NSTA members who are teachers that have made extraordinary contributions to the field of science teaching.

Eligibility:To be eligible, a teacher must have taught less than five years full-time at the time of application and be an NSTA member in good standing. To the extent possible, recipients must have been a student member of NSTA as a preservice teacher.
Award:The award consists of up to $1,000 to be used to attend the annual National Conference. Recipients will be invited to attend a variety of workshops and presentations that are of particular interest to new teachers at the annual National Conference.

A partnership with Northrop Grumman Foundation and the National Science Teaching Association, this award is to recognize excellence in the field of engineering education. NSTA and the Northrop Grumman Foundation recognize the importance of integrating high-quality engineering instruction into the science classroom and the critical need for making students proficient in the practices used by engineers in the field. See the NSTA Position Statement on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), Section II Conceptual Shifts in the NGSS. One award will be awarded annually.

Eligibility: The applicant must be a K–12 public school science/technology teacher. Individuals must have a minimum of 3 years' teaching experience. Awardees will have exhibited excellence in engineering science education.
Award: The award consists of $5000 for classroom materials and equipment, a cash prize of $3000, and $2000 to attend the NSTA National Conference on Science Education. The awardee will be presented the award at the Teacher Awards Banquet at the National Conference.

This award recognizes NSTA members who have made extraordinary contributions to science education through personal commitment to education, specifically science teaching or science; educational endeavors and original work that position recipients as exemplary leaders in their field; significant contributions to the profession that reflect dedication to NSTA as well the entire educational community.

Eligibility: This award is open to longstanding (at least 10 years) NSTA members
Award: Awardees will be recognized at the NSTA Awards Banquet in conjunction with the NSTA National Conference and receive one night's lodging.

Watch a video of the 2019 awardee

This NSTA award posthumously recognizes long-standing members of NSTA for significant lifelong service to NSTA and contributions to science education.

Eligibility: This award is open to long-standing members of NSTA (minimum 15 years) who have been deceased for no more than 10 years; an individual may be nominated within ten (10) years after their death; however, there may be variances to these criteria; the NSTA Awards and Recognitions Committee should be consulted in writing prior to recommending an individual more than ten (10) years after their death
Award: One or more individuals may be selected by the NSTA Awards and Recognitions Committee to be honored at the annual Awards Banquet during the NSTA National Conference; a plaque will be presented to the family of the honoree; NSTA will provide two nights' lodging, and up to $500 towards travel expenses for a family member to attend the NSTA National Conference; a permanent Legacy Award display, located at the NSTA headquarters, will include the honoree’s name.

Watch a video of the 2019 awardee

The Robert E. Yager Exemplary Teaching Award will recognize six (6) full-time K–12 teachers of science who successfully use innovation and excellence in their classroom.

Eligibility: K–12 science teachers residing in NSTA's districts.
Award: $1,000 towards expenses to attend the NSTA National Conference on Science Education, and $1,000 for the awardee. Six awardees will be selected annually. They will present at the NSTA National Conference on Science Education. The awardees will be invited to attend and present at their grade band share-a-thon at the National Conference, attend the district director meet-and-greet, attend and participate in their NSTA District Director Leadership retreat. The awardee will be presented the award at the Teacher Awards Banquet at the National Conference.

This is the most prestigious award an NSTA member can receive. The Robert H. Carleton Award recognizes one individual who has made outstanding contributions to, and provided leadership in, science education at the national level and to NSTA in particular. It is NSTA's highest honor.

Eligibility: NSTA members who are K–college-level science educators
Award: $5,000, a formal citation, and an all-expenses-paid trip to NSTA's National Conference

Watch a video of the 2017 awardee

This award recognizes one outstanding classroom science teacher (K–12) who has had a positive impact on his or her students, school, and community through exemplary classroom science teaching.

Eligibility: K–12 classroom science teachers
Award: $10,000 and an all-expense paid trip to attend NSTA’s National Conference; two finalists will also receive all-expense-paid trips to the conference

Teachers can register for the free web seminar for the Shell Science Lab Regional Challenge here:
https://my.nsta.org/event/web-seminar-developing-a-competitive-application-for-the-shell-science-lab-regio

Teachers can register for the free webseminar for the Shell Awards here:
https://my.nsta.org/event/web-seminar-developing-a-competitive-application-for-shell-teaching-awards-oct

See also: Shell Science Lab Regional Challenge »

Sample of teaching philosophy and instructional method

 Archived web seminar: Developing a Competitive Application for the Shell Science Teaching Award (2016.12.07)

 Archived web seminar: Developing a Competitive Application for the Shell Science Teaching Award (2014.10.15)

 Archived web seminar: Developing a Competitive Application for the Shell Science Teaching Award (2012.09.26)

 Get tips and recommendations from past Shell Science Teaching Award winners

Joel Truesdell writes:

My life since winning the 2017 Shell National Teachers Association Teacher of the Year Award has been even more exciting than usual. Winning the award has taken my dream of customizing the curriculum to the culture and world of each student to more of a reality. Our administration has offered me a position that would allow me to stay in the classroom while presenting and mentoring the science teachers on our three campuses, our pre-schools and Native Hawaiian School network of charter schools. In addition to this opportunity, I will continue to train public school teachers during weekends, fall and spring breaks and summers. I pretty much have Hawai`i covered!

But the impact goes far beyond Hawai`i. After the award was announced, I sent several of Page Keeley's books on formative assessment along with Laura Trout's book on Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) for High School Biology to the science teachers at Tuba City High School in Tuba City Arizona. The campus boarders the Navajo and Hopi reservation. After I presented on their campus last October, the teachers had mixed feelings about culture based instruction. After the news spread that I had won the award, the science teachers have embraced the method!

I plan to use some the $10,000 to return to Tuba City and put on a workshop that will include interested teachers from other Northern Arizona schools. The outreach extended beyond the United States when we used some of the money from to the award to travel to Eldoret, Kenya, to train teachers in a school for homeless street kids. We helped them adapt the very traditional lecture lessons into the culture of the students. It was incredibly rewarding to help this school transition into a dynamic educational institution. It will be an ongoing mission for a number of years. The most recent impact was during a presentation at the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education in Toronto, where I presented my methods to 100+ people from all over the world. When we got to the slide indicating that I had won the award, there was a thunderous ovation. Then Dr. Walter Kahumoku, who interviewed with the Shell Visiting Committee, got up to speak about the award and the impact that I am having on changing the teaching of the Hawaiian Youth, the result was another thundering ovation.

The Shell gift to indigenous science education is really just beginning since it has only been 4 months!

This award provides support to seven diverse educators in pursuit of professional development, and serves to increase the science educator talent pool of minority educators to meet the education work force challenge of the future.

Eligibility: K–12 classroom science teachers in an urban setting. Classroom science teachers at the elementary, middle or high school level who are part of underrepresented ethnic groups are eligible
Award: $1,800 to be used to attend the annual NSTA National Conference on Science Education. Recipients will be invited to attend a variety of workshops and presentations that are of particular interest to urban teachers at the annual National Conference.

This award honors one elementary school teacher who has established (or is establishing) an interdisciplinary, inquiry-based lesson plan. The lesson plan will fully reference sources of information and any relevant National Science Education Standards and benchmarks found in the Atlas of Science Literacy.

Eligibility: Elementary school teachers (grades K–6); applicants must be a full-time teacher with a minimum of five years of experience
Award: The award consists of $1,000 and up to $500 to attend the NSTA National Conference on Science Education; the recipient of the award will be honored during the Awards Banquet at the NSTA Conference