Jonathan Gerlach
Department of Energy
Capitol Hill, Office of Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Florida, Elementary School Math and Science
Jonathan Gerlach has been an Elementary Science District Resource Teacher for Title I Schools in Hillsborough County Public Schools, the eighth largest district in America, for the past four years. During this time, he has worked with 90 Title I elementary schools coaching teachers, modeling lessons, writing and facilitating professional development, and running district science initiatives. Gerlach co-directs the Hillsborough Robotics Challenge and is co-creator of the STEM blog www.WhereistheSMath.com. Prior to his time in Hillsborough, Gerlach taught fourth grade at Lopez Elementary School in Seffner, Florida.
Gerlach holds a B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of South Florida with an ESOL certification. He is currently finishing work on a certificate of STEM education and Science Leadership through the NASA Endeavor Fellowship and University of Columbia’s Teacher College.
In 2010, Gerlach was named Florida Association of Science Teachers (FAST) Elementary Educator of the Year and Florida Engineering Foundation K-6 Educator of the Year at the annual FAST Conference. He is a two-time NASA/Honeywell Advanced Space Academy Fellow, one of 22 world-wide having been selected twice. Gerlach has also been a NASA Endeavor Fellow (2009) and won the Tampa Bay Rays Environmental Educator Award in 2007 for his work on an Earthwatch Institute Expedition doing research on sharks and rays in Monterey, California. He has authored several articles including “Elementary Design Challenges” published in Science and Children, March 2010.
Jonathan believes that one of the biggest gaps we have in our school system is not beginning to encourage students in their elementary years to eventually pursue STEM careers. “Most students decide by the time they enter sixth grade whether they believe they are ‘good’ at math and science. We need to expose our students to multiple opportunities to see what STEM really is. By promoting hands-on STEM programs in our elementary classrooms, we are giving students a better understanding of where math and science can take them.”
Gerlach will be serving his fellowship on Capitol Hill as a member of Senator Michael Bennet’s (D-CO) staff.