The Presidential Award is such a tremendous honor! I am grateful to all of my teachers, mentors, supervisors, and colleagues whose guidance and support have helped me flourish. Special thanks to my students: they are the true teachers. My students show me what true learning looks like. They challenge me to be my best every day. This award is really about the dedication we all bring to fostering one another's successes.
Amanda Northrup has been a teacher at Riverbend Elementary School for 8 years. She has spent the last 6 years as a fifth grade teacher. Her students enjoy an engaging learning environment that strengthens their confidence, competence, and enjoyment of mathematics. Her students regularly report a new-found love of learning.
Amanda's teaching extends beyond her students to her colleagues, as well. She is a mentor for college students, beginning teachers, and school colleagues. Through her work with Partners for Mathematics Learning, Amanda is known for leading dynamic mathematics professional development sessions for elementary teachers and administrators across North Carolina. She has also developed and presented a 4-day training module for kindergarten through fifth grade teachers called Building Mathematical Thinkers.
Amanda also serves as Co-Program Chair for the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics, organizing speakers for an annual conference attended by more than 2,000 teaching professionals.
Amanda has a B.A., summa cum laude, in education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and an M.A.Ed. from Western Carolina University. She is certified in elementary education and is a National Board Certified Middle Childhood Generalist.
- High-resolution version of the official portrait photograph
- Awardee holding Presidential citation between Associate Director for Science of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Dr. Carl Wieman and Deputy Director of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Cora Marrett
- High-resolution version of the teacher profile photograph
