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One helps her students understand science by mummifying fish.
The other help kids learn to love math though she disliked the subject as a child.
Teachers Vickie Ahlstrom and Natalie Robinson, both of the Alpine School District, won this year's Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the White House announced Thursday. It is the highest recognition a K-12 math or science teacher can receive in the United States. Ahlstrom, a sixth-grade teacher for gifted students at Sego Lily Elementary School in Lehi, and Robinson, an instructional coach for new fifth and sixth-grade Alpine teachers, are among 87 elementary school teachers nationwide selected for the honor this year.
They'll each receive $10,000 and a paid trip to Washington, D.C.
Robinson said she was nominated by another district math teacher. Ahlstrom said she applied after promising a previous winner, a friend who died from cancer two years ago, she'd give it a try.
Ahlstrom said she's been teaching for about 14 years, mostly in science. She said she decided to go into teaching in her 30s as her kids were getting older.
"I thought, 'I'm going to teach science the way it should be taught,' " Ahlstrom said. That meant hands-on demonstrations and experiments to show students that science is all around them. She and her students build solar ovens for cooking s'mores, make homemade yogurt, launch water rockets and check for bacteria throughout
She said at the beginning of each year she asks her students to name their favorite subjects, and usually about one-third say science is their least favorite subject. Her goal is to turn them around.
"Our country needs great scientists, and I expect at least one-fourth of my class to some day go into science," she said.
Robinson said she too aims to make math interesting for students.
"I think math for me as a kid was hard," Robinson said. "Though I could memorize things, it was hard for me to memorize concepts."
She said when she started at Manila Elementary School in Pleasant Grove eight years ago, she liked the program the district used at the time, which taught mathematical concepts using a hands-on approach. Though that program, Investigations, is no longer the district's primary math program because of complaints that it was too soft on memorization and skills, Robinson said she encourages teachers to use a balanced approach when teaching math. Robinson taught fifth grade at Manila before becoming an instructional coach.
She said it's important to let kids talk about math and question one another as they learn. She said she encourages teachers to show students how math applies to their everyday lives, as when splitting into teams for games, for example.
"If we can find ways to bring real life into what they know and make it applicable, then I think it will make a lot more sense to them, be a lot more fun and they'll be able to use it," Robinson said.
Robinson said she attributes her success as an educator to mentors and her own teachers.
"I wanted to do for kids what they did for me," she said.
To win the award, teachers must first be nominated, then complete an online application, write about how they demonstrate teaching excellence and submit videos of themselves teaching. Selection committees at the state and national levels then narrow the field. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy makes the final selection.
