A chemistry teacher at Oconto Falls High School has been named a finalist for one of the nation’s highest honors for mathematics and science teachers.
Candice Behnke, of Lena, is one of six finalists (two for science and four for mathematics) for the 2015 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. The winners will be announced as early as summer 2016.
Behnke credited former OFHS biology teacher JoAnn Miller for playing an integral role in her growth as an educator.
“Being able to collaborate with her on instructional design, classroom management and science education in general contributed to us growing together in education,” Behnke said.
Miller, a 2012 National Teacher of the Year, now is employed by Cooperative Educational Services Agency 8. Together they completed their masters in education degrees through Viterbo University in La Crosse and earned National Board Certification.
Behnke said the rigorous standards of the certification program became ingrained in her planning, assessment of students and interaction with students.
“It really did transform my teaching,” she said. Believing strongly in the certification process, Behnke now encourages her colleagues to pursue certification and is a trained facilitator and mentor for National Board Certification candidates.
First intending to become an elementary school teacher, Behnke changed her focus to geology after working at a day care center during her freshman year at St. Norbert College in De Pere. After earning her degree, she attended graduate school at the University of Minnesota-Duluth where she served as a teaching assistant, running geology labs for undergraduate students.
This experience reignited her passion to teach, and she returned to St. Norbert College to become certified to teach at the secondary level.
She joined the staff of OFHS as an intern in the spring semester of 1999 and has remained at the school, teaching college prep and advanced chemistry.
“I can’t really imagine myself doing anything different,” said Behnke, who also teaches chemistry and biochemistry night classes for Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.
Behnke likes to have fun when she teaches and was once voted Funniest Teacher at the high school.
“I laugh a lot, and I just believe it’s really a relaxed atmosphere that’s highly conducive to learning,” she said.
Building relationships with students, parents and other teachers is also important, according to Behnke.
“Effective teaching doesn’t happen when one is in isolation,” she said.
Known as a technology contact person at the school, Behnke said she’s eager to share technology ideas at faculty meetings.
The district recently initiated a one-to-one technology program in which students in seventh grade and older have school-provided laptops, and Behnke has become a leader in helping others to adapt the new technology to their instruction, said OFHS Principal Bruce Russell.
“When you take a look at what she’s doing in the classroom, especially with the integration of technology into the curriculum and the delivery of the curriculum, she’s been a leader in our building,” he said.
She started by offering lessons on her website, then added videos, support materials, videos of herself teaching and her own reflections about the lessons.
“All with attempts to reach the kids and provide more clarity to her instruction, so it’s just been this evolution over time,” Russell said.
Behnke was nominated for the award by Miller and completed an extensive written and video application that demonstrated mastery of science content; use of appropriate instructional methods and strategies; effective use of student assessments to evaluate, monitor and improve student learning; reflective practice and lifelong learning to improve teaching and student learning; and leadership in education outside the classroom.
A National Science Foundation panel will select one teacher of mathematics and one of science to receive Presidential Awards from each state and four U.S. jurisdictions. In addition to recognition and professional development events in Washington, D.C., winners receive $10,000 and a citation signed by the president.
“Presidential Teaching Award finalists bring mathematics and science alive in the classroom, which is so important to our kids,” State Superintendent Tony Evers said. “This program brings needed recognition to the work of our teachers and their dedication to students and the teaching profession.”
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