The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are honored to have awarded the achievements of the 2011 $10,000 Life Sciences Educator's Award Columbus Scholar:

Deborah Wasylik

Teacher
Dr. Phillips High School
Orlando, Florida

Creating curiosity in science class is important to Deborah Wasylik. She accomplishes this when she tells her students that before she became a teacher she had climbed inside a pyramid, jumped out of an airplane and sold drugs!

She grew up with an adventurous family in New Jersey, and attended Grove City College near Pittsburgh. After graduation with a Biology Degree, she entered pharmaceutical sales and held various sales positions for the next 20 years, including demonstrating power tools live on QVC.

In 1996 the family moved to Orlando, Florida, and Deborah became a teacher at an inner-city school. The first phone call she received in class was from a probation officer asking if one of her students was wearing his ankle bracelet. During her first lab a student had an asthma attack triggered by earthworm preservative, and she had to call 911, but it was too late--she was in love with the job and the students.

For the last 10 years she has enjoyed teaching life sciences at Dr. Phillips High School. Deborah has been the recipient of many awards including being selected last year as a NASA Endeavor STEM Fellow and being invited by President Bush to the White House to receive the Presidential Award of Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Her plans for this summer include a trip to Montana to learn about the environmental impacts of the mining industry and hunt for fossils.

She is married to Wes, and their daughter Colleen recently graduated from Duke University.

The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are honored to have awarded the achievements of the 2011 $10,000 Life Sciences Educator's Award Columbus Scholar:

Leslie Brinson

Biology Teacher
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
Durham, North Carolina

As an experienced teacher looking back on her career, Leslie sees the importance of activities outside the classroom--whether field trips, after-school research projects or science competitions. What these activities have in common is that the students are engaged, physically and mentally in things they elect to do. Taking rural students to State competitions did more to inspire future scientists than any classroom experience she could provide. These days the highlight of the school year is when she leads students to Belize where they are immersed in research projects on the coral reef.

Leslie has been teaching at North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) since 1995, and has come to believe there is no better educational environment. In this residential location, students are provided a competitive and nurturing pedagogical setting to conduct their own research and pursue a myriad of science competitions within North Carolina and beyond. Because she has found inspiration from her colleagues, Leslie has enthusiastically embraced a key mission of the school--providing outreach to biology teachers through the State.

Leslie's workshops include AP Biology, GLOBE, Biotechnology and SITE (a State developed curriculum for teachers in underperforming schools). She received the NCSSM Award for Exceptional Contribution to Outreach and the NABT Outstanding Biology Teacher Award for NC as a result of her support of her fellow teachers.

Leslie received a BS in Science Education from Florida State University as well as an M Ed in Science Education and MS in Botany from the University of Florida. She received a CAS in Science Education from East Carolina University.

The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are honored to have awarded the achievements of the 2011 $10,000 Life Sciences Educator's Award Columbus Scholar:

Coit Hendley

Teacher
Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Greenbelt, Maryland

Mr. Hendley has been teaching for 32 years, and is currently teaching five sections of AP Chemistry and one section of Research Practicum. He has developed the AP Chemistry program into one that involves three teachers, eight sections and 240 students. The program has been recognized by the College Board since 2006 for having the most number of African-American students with a score of 3 or better.

His Research Practicum section is part of a program where seniors do an individual research project. He runs the Watershed Integrated Study Program in which teams of students measure the water quality of fourteen sites in the area and use the data to study local and general water quality.

Coit is National Board Certified and is an active grant writer. He has received several Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund Grants as well as a GTE GIFT Fellowship, a Toyota Tapestry Grant and NEA student Achievement Award. He is also a winner of other awards including the Leo Shubert Memorial Award--The Chemical Society of Washington, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching, the RadioShack National Teacher Award, the Christa McAuliffe Award and the Siemens AP Teacher Award. However, he is most proud of school awards voted on by the students. He was recognized as the National Honor Society Teacher of the Year and twice the Science and Technology Teacher of the Year.

Coit received a BA in Chemistry from Cornell University and a MA in Science Education from the University of Maryland.