The Presidential Award is an honor that validates everything I do to encourage, support, and promote excellence in mathematics teaching in the United States for students, teachers, and the learning community. The Presidential Award gives recognition and credit to my varied accomplishments in teaching mathematics from all stakeholders in the mathematics community. The Presidential Award motivates and inspires me to continue to strive to be the best mathematics teacher, leader, and learner I can be.
Jessica Boland always knew she would be a teacher, but mathematics was challenging. A Methods class opened her eyes to mathematics. Algorithms didn’t rule; she learned by doing and built understanding by sharing and questioning. She continues to grow mathematically, learning daily through the eyes of her students.
An educator for 12 years, she was in Curriculum for mathematics and science, a lead teacher for Rutgers Discrete Math Institute, and a consultant for Pearson; she currently teaches third grade at Rose Lane School in the Madison School District. She provides assistance to kids in Math Club, facilitates Math Academies for parents to learn mathematics and how to support learning at home, serves as a collaborating teacher for student teachers, and provides professional development in mathematics practices and mathematics content knowledge. With a team of teachers, she participates in a National Science Foundation course, Connecting Arithmetic to Algebra.
She has a B.S. in interdisciplinary studies from Fort Lewis College and a Master's of Education in curriculum and instruction from Arizona State University, where she is currently completing a master's degree in administration. She is National Board Certified in early childhood and Arizona certified in elementary and early childhood education.
- 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
