Jeanine Lynn Gelhaus teaches eighth-grade science (physical, earth, chemistry, and space) at Medford Middle School in Medford, WI. She has taught at Medford Middle School for ten years; she has taught at the middle school level for thirteen years. She currently is the Medford Area Middle School Rocket Club and Culture Club advisor. Ms. Gelhaus is also an adjunct faculty member in natural resources for the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is also a newly published author with SRA/McGraw-Hill.
Drawing from the Apollo 13 space mission, Ms. Gelhaus bases her classroom on the motto “Failure is not an option.” To facilitate communication between home and school, she uses online lesson plans and gradebooks. Ms. Gelhaus has integrated technology into her classroom, listening to podcasts, using Web-quests, virtual labs, and video streaming to enhance lesson plans. Ms. Gelhaus uses rubrics and other methods to objectively assess her lessons in order to identify where she needs to make changes.
Ms. Gelhaus has received numerous awards, including the CAPCO-Consumer Aerosol Council’s Curriculum Award, National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Screen Report Award, Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers Distinguished Educator, NSTA Making a Difference Award, Wisconsin Environmental Education Association Teacher of the Year, and Wisconsin Elementary Science Teachers Distinguished Teacher. Ms. Gelhaus has received two Fulbright Fellowships, a Brown University Fellowship, and a National Aeronautics and Space Administration Fellowship.
Ms. Gelhaus is National Board Certified for early adolescent science. She has a B.S. in elementary/middle education and an M.S. in environmental science from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, and has completed additional master’s-level educational credits.