Library Celebrates a New School Year, Hosting Two Albert Einstein Fellows
Fellows will Identify and Share Primary Sources for STEM Educators
The Library of Congress has announced it will host two Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellows for the 2024-2025 school year. Fellows will work closely with the Library’s Professional Learning and Outreach Initiatives Office and Informal Learning Office to make primary sources from the Library’s collections more accessible and useful for educators in science, technology, engineering and math across the country.
Jessica Fries-Gaither, an elementary science teacher from Columbus, Ohio, and Ralph Pantozzi, a high school math teacher from Millington, New Jersey, are joining the Library as the school year’s Einstein Fellows.
“We are very excited to work with Jessica and Ralph,” said Lee Ann Potter, director of Professional Learning and Outreach Initiatives at the Library. “They are both graduates of professional development experiences offered by the Library and are keenly aware of the power primary sources possess as teaching tools.”
“We know that these two creative STEM educators will help us discover exciting new ways to help teachers and their students connect with, and make use of, the Library,” added Monica Smith, chief of the Library’s informal learning office.
Jessica Fries-Gaither has taught science and worked in the education field for 25 years. She has spent the last 12 years teaching lower school (elementary) science at Columbus School for Girls in Columbus, Ohio, and has served as the school’s Science Department Chair for the last four years. Fries-Gaither also has experience teaching middle school science and mathematics and implementing National Science Foundation grants related to integrating science and literacy. Fries-Gaither is a 2024 state finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. She is also an award-winning author who has published books for teachers and children.
Ralph Pantozzi has more than three decades of experience as a mathematics teacher, supervisor of instruction, and teacher educator. Through his classroom practice, involvement in professional organizations, work with museums, and social media channels, he has advocated for instructional practices that lead students to new inspiration and new understanding. For a lesson he developed related to probability, he was awarded the Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Mathematics Teaching by the National Museum of Mathematics; and in 2017, he was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
For more information about the Albert Einstein Distinguished Fellowship, visit science.osti.gov/wdts/einstein.
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.
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Media Contact: Elaina Finkelstein, efinkelstein@loc.gov
PR 24-091
10-23-2024
ISSN 0731-3527