Steve Schreiner
National Science Foundation
Office of International Science and Engineering
Washington – Grades 5-8, Science and Technology
Steve Schreiner is a science teacher at West Valley City School, a project-based middle school in Spokane Valley, Washington. For the past five years, he has taught fifth-grade through eighth-grade science in multiage classrooms, focusing primarily on environmental education and scientific investigation design. His students visit authentic places’natural areas, schools, back yards, and businesses’to perform independent research projects, collect data, and form conclusions. Steve places an emphasis on student collaboration and real-life presentations, and his students have presented their original work to audiences that include school district superintendents, state legislators, and community leaders.
Steve is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Washington, earning degrees in human biology and science education. He’s passionate about field studies not only in his classroom, but also in his personal life. He has studied natural history while backpacking through the Hawaiian Islands, learned neuroscience at Hopkins Marine Center on the California coast, studied grey whale behavior at La Push, Washington, and traveled around the globe on the Semester at Sea program. Over the past several summers, he has enrolled in science courses at Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Mount Rainier National Parks, and this summer he will be attending Space Academy at the US Space & Rocket Center.
Steve believes in student-centered classrooms where kids have opportunities to make choices about their learning. Rather than focusing on textbook knowledge of scientific concepts, he teaches students how to ask and answer scientific questions, empowering them to work independently on research topics of their own choosing. His work in environmental education’specifically his efforts to engage students in environmental field studies’earned him the 2008 Outstanding Formal Environmental Educator Award from the Environmental Education Association of Washington.
Steve loves travel and adventure. He frequently leads his classes on local field trips, and he has recently led week-long student expeditions to Yellowstone National Park, Orcas Island, and Puget Sound. His Semester at Sea experience took him to 10 foreign ports of call, from Vietnam to Morocco, and sparked an interest in international travel that continues to this day. He’s excited for the opportunity to work in the National Science Foundation’s Office of International Science and Engineering, where he hopes to learn more about cutting-edge research partnerships between U.S. and international scientists.