Audrey McDonald to Receive Teacher in Excellence Award

East Boston High School English Advanced Placement teacher, Audrey Schindler McDonald, will be one of 15 teachers from across the state selected as a Teacher in Excellence Award winner.

East Boston High School English Advanced Placement teacher, Audrey Schindler McDonald, will be one of 15 teachers from across the state selected as a Teacher in Excellence Award winner.

East Boston High School English Advanced Placement teacher, Audrey Schindler McDonald, will be one of 15 teachers from across the state selected as a Teacher in Excellence Award winner.

McDonald will receive the award at the Partners in Excellence Award Celebration on Thursday, March 7 at the Museum of Science.

“I’m very honored and excited,” said McDonald. “It was unexpected.”

McDonald began teaching at EBHS in 2001 and became the schools English AP teacher in 2005. McDonald, a Peabody resident, got her start teaching at Dorchester High School and also teachers other English courses at EBHS.

“I love the students here,” she said. “They make it really easy to be a teacher. We got a good group of kids and I plan to stay here for a long time.”

Mass Insight Education announced last week that McDonald and 14 other teachers have been selected to receive the honor for their outstanding contribution to student achievement in the Mass Math + Science Initiative (MMSI), the state’s largest at-scale academic program designed to increase participation and performance in Advanced Placement science, math, and English courses.

The honor and financial award, which is in its first year, is made possible through the support of Partners in Excellence, a group of philanthropic individuals, corporations, institutions, and foundations committed to teacher excellence in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.

The awards recognize a top math, science and English teacher from each of five regions in the state.

“By investing in teacher excellence, our goal is to help underwrite the risk teachers assume when they open access to Advanced Placement to all students,” said Partners in Excellence founding Co-Chair Joshua Boger. “As long as we hold out excellence as a possible pathway for everybody in the school system, then we will have the greatest educational system and we will have a workforce that is both effective and happy.”

Members of Partners in Excellence include philanthropists Joshua Boger, Rick Burnes, John Davis; corporate and institutional members The Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Biogen Idec Foundation; with support from Thermo Fisher Scientific and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

In just four years over 500 MMSI teachers have collectively more than doubled the number of enrollments and qualifying scores in Advanced Placement math, science, and English. The program provides teachers with intensive training throughout the year on subject matter and specific methodologies in teaching higher-level Advanced Placement courses, which is a key component of MMSI’s success.

“When we support our teachers, our students succeed,” said Mort Orlov, President of the Mass Math + Science Initiative. “These teachers have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to their schools, their peers and their students, a commitment we are thrilled to recognize through these awards.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *