Sloan Foundation honors seven city math and science teachers

For the fifth straight year, the Fund for the City of New York and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation gave city teachers awards for excellence in teaching science and mathematics.

The honorees were nominated by students, parents, colleagues, and administrators and then selected by a committee made up of representatives from local science museums and universities, based on their students’ achievement, their involvement in extracurricular activities, and their efforts to promote math and science inside and outside the classroom. Schools with winning teachers each received $2,500 to support their math and science programs, and the teachers took home $5,000.

Here are this year’s recipients, along with a highlight about each that we pulled from longer biographies compiled by the Sloan Awards. (Here are last year’s winners, and 2011’s.)

Teacher: Eloise Thompson
Subject: College Algebra/Pre-Calculus, AP Statistics
School: DeWitt Clinton High School, Bedford Park, Bronx

Why her school thinks she’s great: Thompson, the youngest of 14 children, attended Bronx schools herself and now has developed a reputation at a struggling school for connecting personally with her students.

Teacher: Eleanor Terry
Subject: Math A, Math B, Integrated Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2/Trigonometry, Numeracy, Calculus, AP Statistics, CUNY Mathematics
School: High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology, Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Why her school thinks she’s great: Terry strives to help her students connect math lessons to everyday life, by conducting exit polling for city elections, analyzing baseball players’ salaries, and calculating the future impact of college loans.

Teacher: Thomas Sangiorgi
Subject: Regents Chemistry, Advanced Topics in Science
School: Townsend Harris High School, Flushing, Queens

Why his school thinks he’s great: Sangiorgi coaches the Science Olymiad team at Townsend Harris, an ultra-selective high school; the team now includes a tenth of the school’s students.

Teacher: Y.S. Kim
Subject: Integrated Algebra, Integrated Algebra ICT
School: Francis Lewis High School, Fresh Meadows, Queens

Why her school thinks she’s great: Originally a Teaching Fellow, Kim has a special knack for reaching low-performing students. When she taught an algebra class to students who had all failed the same course in the past, two thirds passed last year.

Teacher: Dorina Cheregi
Subject: Algebra/Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus
AP Calculus
School: Newcomers High School, Long Island City, Queens

Why her school thinks she’s great: An immigrant herself, Cheregi has propelled her students, all recent arrivals to the country, to compete successfully against city students from highly selective schools.

Teacher: Elisabeth Jaffe
Subject: Algebra/Trigonometry, Algebra I, Computer Science, Math as a Language
School: Baruch College Campus High School, Manhattan

Why her school thinks she’s great: Jaffe’s math classes include not only practical projects but literary assignments, such as the novel “Einstein’s Dreams.”

Teacher: Charlene Chan
Subject: Advanced Science Research, Living Environment
School: Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics, East Harlem

Why her school thinks she’s great: Chan’s science research class has led her students to present research in Taiwan, Singapore, and Vietnam, while schools in Mexico and China are replicating her curriculum.