Her Story
Deborah Cornelison teaches ninth-grade physical science at Byng Junior High School in Ada, Oklahoma, a rural, high-need district. Her lab-based course covers motion, forces, energy and chemical interactions, and she wants students to find it “hands-on, minds-on, and almost always lots of fun.” They use toys, marbles, slinkies and balloons, along with probes, data loggers and an infrared camera. After a roller coaster design lab, one student wrote, “We had no boundaries but the laws of physics.”
Since 1988 she has run the school’s research program, directly supervising more than 300 student projects that have won more than 300 awards and $130,000 in regional, state, national and international competitions. Some of her students have been finalists at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. In 2004 she added a team approach in which ninth graders identify a community problem, investigate it with science and mathematics, and carry out a solution. Her teams have earned $119,500 in the U.S. Army eCYBERMISSION contest, and one team won the 2005 national competition.
Those projects have changed things off campus too. A 2007 team’s idea for school security became a state law requiring a yearly lockdown drill, and a 2008 team helped pass a state law on leaving children alone in vehicles. Another team won an $8,000 grant for a shade structure for the school courtyard.
Beyond the Classroom
Cornelison is grant writer, program director and master teacher for six federally funded Mathematics and Science Partnership projects, which have brought more than $990,000 into her rural county. Each project offers 40 K-12 teachers a ten-day summer institute with university professors and partners such as a groundwater research lab, a USDA research station and a medical research foundation, so that her colleagues’ students gain access to better science teaching.
She was among the first teachers in her district to earn National Board Certification (1999, renewed 2008), and her mentoring has led to 21 board-certified teachers there. Her honors include the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (2002), the NSTA Shell Science Teaching Award (2009) and the Microsoft Innovative Teacher Award (2009). She has served on national award selection panels and was her district’s first state Teacher of the Year finalist.
Philosophy Into Practice
Cornelison believes “all students can use science skills to learn about the natural world, apply that knowledge to make sense of their diverse places in it, and be empowered to make a real difference.” She says she lets students “feel the frustration that often accompanies learning” and tries to avoid just giving answers.
She names school funding and the shortage of STEM-prepared teachers as the great problems, and she answers both with her partnership projects. Her students’ pre-tests, post-tests and written claims show their growth, and she keeps learning herself, so that “my students know I am always learning.”
“I simply love learning, and teach with purpose so others may achieve their goals with the joy of learning.”— Deborah Cornelison
In Her Own Words
“My role in the big picture of teaching is to provide ongoing opportunities for each child to engage in appropriate, relevant learning experiences.”— Deborah Cornelison
“My students know I am always learning.”— Deborah Cornelison
“I believe the most productive relationship between teachers and students exists in an authentic learning environment based on relevance, respect, and responsible risk-taking.”— Deborah Cornelison
What Others Said
“Ms. Cornelison has taught for 25 years with passion and enthusiasm, inspiring thousands of students and teachers.”— Hector Ibarra, nominator
“I especially admire Deborah’s ability to inspire her students and her colleagues to engage and excel in STEM fields.”— Todd Crabtree, Superintendent, Byng Public Schools
“If teaching were an Olympic event, Mrs. Cornelison would be a gold medalist.”— Cortney Cowley, former student
“She encourages you again and again, helping you believe you can achieve anything.”— Linda Lancaster, NBCT, colleague
“Teaching defines her. It is who she is.”— Claire Palmer, former student and colleague