Mrs. Kim Houtz Receives Outstanding Teacher Award
by Brandon Thorngate
Our own Mrs. Kim Houtz is this year's Kansas recipient of the
National Association of Biology Teachers’ Outstanding Biology
Teacher Award. The award was presented by Sandy Collins, the
Director of the Kansas program, on August 11th. She was nominated
by Principal Jack Waugh, and past students as well as their parents
wrote letters of recommendation. One of Mrs. Houtz's goals is to
raise her students' scientific literacy, something she thinks is
very important. " With the issues facing our nation and the world
today, many are looking to the scientific community to help solve
these issues,” Houtz said. “Here in Kansas there is a push in the
bioscience industry. Science may hold many answers that will help
our ecology, health, energy needs, etc., so it is critical that
training in the sciences is adequate today, as it will affect
generations to come." In their letters students said that Mrs.
Houtz's classes and teaching style helped prepare them for college
classes, and parents said she shows "...a genuine interest in the
individual student...".
