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Kielborn honored by Georgia association
April 9, 2004
CARROLLTON,
GA - Dr. Terrie Kielborn, a part-time assistant professor at the University of West Georgia, has been named the 2004 Georgia Middle School
Science Teacher of the Year by the Georgia Science Teachers Association
(GSTA). She was also selected as the GSTA District I Middle School Science
Teacher of the Year.
The GSTA Science Teacher of the Year awards program recognizes ongoing excellence in the teaching of science and commitment to its improvement. Kielborn, who teaches eighth-grade earth science and gifted at South Paulding Middle School in Dallas, Ga., received a $1,000 award for the statewide recognition and $200 for the district award at an awards ceremony in Macon.
At West Georgia, Kielborn teaches “Science Methods for Middle and Secondary,” “Environmental Science for Teachers,” “Middle Grades Curriculum” and a student teaching seminar in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, as well as “Introduction to Educational Research” in the Department of Educational Leadership and Professional Studies.
No stranger to teaching awards, Kielborn has received several state and national honors in the past few years. She was presented the 2002 Presidential Award of Excellence for Mathematics and Science Teaching in Elementary Science for the state of Georgia, and she was named a 2003 Atlanta Journal-Constitution Honor Teacher in the Middle School Category and the 2003 Georgia Youth Science & Technology Center Science Teacher of the Year.
“In the movie ‘Stand and Deliver,’ the teacher has a motto — ‘Hard work plus determination equals success,’” Kielborn said. “I believe and live this motto, but not without another component — passion. It is this component that is that uncontrollable desire within our souls that drives us to do what we do. Each day I come to school anticipating and expecting a new adventure rather than merely coming to work. My passion stems from what I call ‘E3’ — experience (25 years), education (even after a Ph.D. I still take classes) and energy (thank God for Centrum!).”
Kielborn taught science at Stewart Middle School in Douglasville for a year before moving to South Paulding Middle School in 2002. Prior to that, she taught science in the elementary and middle grades for 20 years in Florida, where she was named Teacher of the Year at three schools and the 1997 Florida Middle School Science Teacher of the Year.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Florida Atlantic University, a master’s degree in adult education from the University of South Florida and a doctorate of philosophy in science education from Florida State University.
She is a founding member of the Paulding County Science Teachers Association and an active member of the Georgia Science Teachers Association and Phi Delta Kappa, as well as numerous other organizations.
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