Numbers, you will recall, are important tools when studying science.
With that in mind, here are some interesting numbers about the Texas Medical Association’s Ernest and Sarah Butler Awards for Excellence in Science Teaching, which recognize and reward elementary, middle, and high school teachers who use creative and innovative methods to cultivate student interest in medicine and science:
450-plus: The number of teachers nominated each year for the award.
1990: The year that TMA created the award.
$1,500: The amount awarded to outstanding elementary, middle, and high school teachers who have taught fewer than five years.
$2,000: The amount awarded to the third-place winner in each category.
$4,000: The amount each category’s second-place winner receives. (I’m guessing by now you’re seeing a pattern)
$6,000: The amount that goes to the first-place winner in each category.
But wait. There’s more.
Not only does each teacher receive a cash award, their schools also get resource grants to spend on their science curriculum. Rookie, third-, and second-place winners’ schools each receive $1,000, while the first-place winner’s school gets $2,000.
But we’re not finished. Oh no.
An overall winner is chosen from among the three first-place teachers, and that person gets an extra $5,000. Amazing.
The deadline to nominate teachers for next year’s awards is Nov. 24, 2018, and the first-place winners will receive their awards at a special ceremony during TexMed 2019, TMA’s annual conference and expo that will take place next May in Dallas.
The awards are made possible with a grant from the Texas Medical Association Foundation, which is supported through an endowment generously established by Dr. and Mrs. Ernest C. Butler and gifts from physicians and their families.
Leslie Secrest, MD, TMA Foundation president; Diana Fite, MD, chair of TMA's Educational Scholarship & Loan Committee; Norma Burke, 2018 first place high school and overall winner; Julie Frey, first place middle school; A’ndrea Fisher, first place elementary; Sarah and Ernest Butlert Butler, MD.