Sue Whitsett
National Science Foundation
Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences
2010-11
Wisconsin – High school biology
Sue Whitsett has been a teacher of science since 1979. She earned a BS in secondary education with a major in biology and minor in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. She taught 7th and 8th grade at St. Peter’s Grade School in Oshkosh, Wisconsin from 1979-1984 and taught biology at Oshkosh West High School from 1985-1986. She completed her MS in curriculum and supervision with an emphasis in science education in 1986 at UW-Oshkosh. Sue continued her career in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in 1986 teaching all levels of biology.
Sue Whitsett obtained her National Board Certification in 2001 in adolescent and young adulthood science. She strongly believes for students to learn science they need to do science. She incorporates many inquiry learning experiences into her teaching along with the skills necessary to be scientifically literate. She was awarded a Toyota TAPESTRY grant in 2001 to help her students do research on the retention ponds that house the geothermal heat exchange system for her high school.
Whitsett has been a member of the Wisconsin State Superintendent’s Task Force on Adolescent Literacy and has been a contributor to two Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction documents dealing with state science curriculum. Sue has been a state finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science on three occasions. She has served as the president and secretary of her state science teacher organization and has served as the District XII Director of NSTA. Whitsett is a facilitator for the electronic Mentoring for Student Success (eMSS), a national program through The New Teacher Center at Santa Cruz. She has continued her own professional growth in science by participating in the NSF sponsored Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program for 6 summers doing research in the fields of molecular biology and nanotechnology.
During her Fellowship year, Whitsett was assigned to the NSF Directorate of Biological Sciences, Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, where she analyzed proposals that have a K-12 component as part of the broader impact statement. She co-chaired a conference in June 2010, for 50 scientists to discuss integration of biological research and education. She has served the NSF as a summarizer for the panel reviews that occur biannually along with being a member of a working group that discusses undergraduate biological education. Next year Sue will continue the above activities and will do outreach to scientists about incorporating K-12 programs as part of their grants.