Awards and Fellows

STANYS Fellows Award

At the Annual Meeting in New York City on December 27, 1949, our organization inaugurated the STANYS Fellows Award Program to honor teachers who have served with distinction as science educators in New York State. These persons are chosen on the basis of their effective teaching and active participation in professional scientific organizations. Their leadership and scholarly endeavors in science education are noteworthy. The recipients are honored at the Annual Conference.

View the list of STANYS Fellows starting in 1950.

The procedure for the nomination of a Fellow and the evaluation process is described in the STANYS Fellow Nomination Package. This information is divided into six parts. The materials have been reformatted and reorganized with approval by the Board of Directors November 3, 2007.

Guidelines for the Preparation of Nomination Materials (Part 1)
Rules for Nominations (Part 2)
Nomination Form (Part 3; a writable document)
Presentating the Successful Awardee (Part 4)
Fellow Evaluation Rubric (Part 5)
Checklist (Part 6)
Fellow Nomination Complete Package (Parts 1-6)

Nomination materials must be postmarked by January 15th of the year in which the honor is to be bestowed and sent to the Fellows Committee Chairperson.

Gary Vorwald, Fellows Committee Chair
10 Chevy Drive
South Setauket, NY 11720

STANYS Fellow 2009

Dr. Michael J. Passow is receiving this Fellows Award in his 40th year in the classroom, and plans to keep going for another decade.  He has taught middle school, high school, undergrad, and graduate programs in public and private institutions. For 22 years, he taught Earth Science at White Plains Middle School.  Three years ago, he “retired” in New York State, giving up a two-hour, sixty-mile commute each day through the Tappan Zee Bridge corridor for the opportunity to walk 4 minutes and 43 seconds from his backdoor to teach his neighbors’ children in Englewood, NJ.
Mike served as 2002 – 2003 STANYS President, during which time several innovations were introduced for how the annual conference was organized. One of the nicest was holding the President’s Reception in Suite 999 at the top of the Nevele Tower, thereby raising the standards of hospitality to levels rarely reached previously. After his presidency ended, Mike added an interesting twist to the conference sessions—Eco-trail rides through the woods surrounding the Nevele.
Mike has provided leadership in Science Education over the last decades in many other organizations. He is the current President of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, and twice served as President of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers-Eastern Section.  He originated the Westchester Conferences on Science, Math, and Technology Education, held for over a decade at SUNY Purchase. Mike is one of the most active contributors to the ESPRIT list-serve. Mike has published more than a hundred articles in STANYS and other science education journals, and made at least as many workshop presentations at STANYS and other conferences.
Always interested in sharing cutting-edge science, Mike also created the Earth2Class Workshops for Teachers” at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. These bring together research scientists and classroom teachers for Saturday morning discussions about exciting research discoveries. Next month will mark the 100th E2C Workshop. The E2C website allows teachers and students who cannot get to Palisades NY early on a Saturday to access archived versions of these talks, as well as many other useful resources. Mike has also leads American Meteorological Society DataStreme courses that have enhanced subject knowledge for hundreds of teachers. He takes very seriously the award he received from the American Chemistry Council in 2001: National Catalyst Teacher.
Outside the classroom, while at White Plains Middle School, Mike and one of the music teachers originated the student-faculty musical program. For fourteen years, they directed and, on occasion, starred in full-scale Broadway musicals. There are people who still recall Mike’s rendition of “Put on a Happy Face” from “Bye, Bye Birdie”—although not necessarily with any sense of admiration. Many of Mike’s students have continued into careers related to the sciences, including many who became doctors and would very much like to practice on Mike. Only the knowledge that others of his students have become tort lawyers and Mike’s general good health has stopped them. His real hope, though, is that all of his students have left his class with the knowledge and skills to continue scientific literacy for a lifetime.
For many years, Mike ended the school year by driving to the Adirondacks and climbing one of the 46 High peaks. He “bagged” 30 before discovering his current love for whatever spare time is available:  kayaking! If you’re ever on the Tappan Zee or West Side Highway and see a blue kayak with a bearded paddler wearing a white hat, give Mike a shout! 

Written by Michael Hanophy