Cayey teacher wins Amgen Foundation excellence award
From left: Luz Burgos and Annette Rodríguez, Amgen’s senior communications manager
Luz Burgos Berríos, science teacher at Colegio Radians in Cayey, recently won the Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence, bestowed during a workshop for science teachers and school counselors in Río Piedras.
Burgos won along with teachers in other jurisdictions where Amgen has operations, namely California, Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Washington and Canada.
The Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence is an annual awards program that recognizes extraordinary contributions by educators across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada who are elevating the level of science literacy through creativity in the classroom and motivation of students.
An independent panel of judges selects the winners based on a variety of criteria including, among others, a teacher’s ability to effectively engage students while deepening their scientific understanding, the plan for the use of grant money to improve science education resources in their schools, and a letter of recommendation.
Since the program’s inception in 1992, Amgen has awarded over $3 million to public and private school science teachers, grades K-12, in communities in which Amgen operates. The winners will receive an unrestricted cash award of $5,000 and the recipient’s school will receive a restricted grant of $5,000 to be utilized for the expansion or enhancement of a school science program, for science resources, or for the professional development of the school’s science teachers.
Winners are selected by various criteria, including the teacher’s ability to engage their students while deepening the understanding of science, have a plan of how the money will be used to improve science education resources in the school, and a letter of recommendation, among others.
