GAU NAMED FINALIST FOR MATH, SCIENCE TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Franklin Elementary School teacher Judy Gau recently won state recognition for her efforts to increase the science "want to" in her students.

Gau was one of three elementary school teachers named as a finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching by the Missouri Council of Science Teachers during October. The competitive award recognizes excellence in teaching by elementary, junior high and senior high school teachers.

All of the finalists' applications were forwarded to the National Science Foundation for review and a top state winner will be announced for each grade level later this month.

Principal Jim Watkins said Gau, who teaches fourth-graders, was nominated by her co-workers because she works hard to make science fun for students. She keeps them busy with fun activities so they forget to think of science as boring, he said.

"She makes science interesting as well as fun to enhance the 'want to' in science," he said. "So many students find science uninteresting because they think to themselves 'I can't do that.' Mrs. Gau teaches them that they can. She makes them want to do her activities and enjoy science."

Gau said elementary school students have a natural curiosity that is put to good use when studying science concepts. She includes a lot of hands-on activities to keep their curiosity engaged so they can learn new concepts.

"The more they can get their hands on things, the more interested they are," she said.

Recently, Gau used a simple experiment to teach students not all metals are attracted to magnets. After letting the children work with the magnets around the classroom, she had them complete a worksheet about the types of metals a magnet attracts.

After completing the worksheet, the children checked their answers. Gau said getting the right answer earned students a star, but those who had the wrong answers earned something different but equally important.

"Every time they saw an arrow, that represented something new they had learned," she said. "That's the way science should be: A lot of arrows indicating growth and something new that has been learned. There are no losers -- every time you learn something new you take a step forward."