David Valenzuela, science department co-chair at Madison High School (Portland, Oregon), was selected as Oregon’s 2017 Educator of the Year for the OnPoint Prize for Excellence in Education. David is an alumnus of Partners in Science, a Murdock Trust program that provides advanced research opportunities to high school science teachers. Congratulations, David!
“Science education is an extraordinary opportunity to engage all students. I step into my classroom with the goal of encouraging my students to solve some of our world’s most challenging problems. As a teacher, there is nothing that excites me more than empowering our biomedical students to explore complex topics such as how to prevent and fight novel infections, screen and evaluate the code in our DNA, prevent and conquer cancer, and develop solutions to prevail when organs fail. Our students are conducting cutting edge graduate level research while in high school. This raises their academic achievement, and sets them up to succeed in the classroom and beyond.” – David Valenzuela
