Beth Hayden, a teacher at Bonny Eagle High School, received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching this month. Rory Sweeting / Lakes Region Weekly

Beth Hayden, who has been teaching mathematics at Bonny Eagle High School since October 2008, was one of more than 100 nationwide recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Hayden, who currently teaches AP statistics, algebra 2, and discrete mathematics, was one of two Maine secondary school teachers to receive the prestigious award; Diana Allen of Sanford Middle School was the other. Hayden and Allen, along with educators from across the country, will travel to Washington, D.C., to receive the award at a future date.

Hayden was originally nominated for the award, which is presented by the National Science Foundation, in 2023, and was supposed to be informed whether she had received the award in April of last year. However, for unknown reasons, the recipients were not announced until Jan. 13 of this year. However, Hayden noted that the delay was not unprecedented, as the 2021 cohort had not been announced by the time the process began in 2023.

“This is a pretty significant award,” Ted Finn, principal at Bonny Eagle, told the Lakes Region Weekly.

Despite this, he lamented the award’s relative obscurity, noting that his wife, who has taught mathematics for 31 years, had never heard of it before Hayden received it, and wondered what they could do to publicize the importance of the award.

Finn also noted that, in an age of near-universal personal phones and computers, traditional teaching methods often fail to reach students. He then praised Hayden for being an exception in this regard, talking about how her students are constantly engaged with the material, participating in active learning, and applying mathematical equations to real-world problems such as figuring out the cost of an Uber ride.

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“Whatever she’s teaching,” said Finn of Hayden, “she tries to make it as real-world as possible.”

Prior to teaching at Bonny Eagle, Hayden served as an engineer for a computer company; she and Finn said that her work there informed her current teaching job. Hayden said that her view on mathematics and teaching was making sure that students are actively engaged in learning, noting that math was not a spectator sport. She also credited her high school math teachers as inspirations, who, like her, had previously worked in private industries.

As part of the application process, Hayden had to submit a video of her class instruction and talk about work she’s done at the local, state or national level. Of the latter, she was most proud of a time in 2017 when, shortly after getting her National Board certification, she took part in a district-wide pilot program of the “assessment for learning” approach to teaching.

Regarding her plans for this year, Hayden said that she plans to continue with her professional development, having signed up for a graduate-level course on risk management in science and technology, and to give her students the best experience possible so that they’re prepared for the real world.

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