2009 Bartlett Certificate of Merit Winners

Two teachers selected for Bartlett Certificates of Merit

In addition to selecting Bertha Vazquez as the $5,000 Bartlett Award winner, NEEF also selected two teachers as Bartlett Certificate of Merit recipients.  Each recipient, chosen from a pool of nearly 100 nominees, received a $750 prize.

• Patrick Curley, North Carolina
• Susan Vincent, New York

Patrick Curley
Onslow County Learning Center, Jacksonville, North Carolina

At Onslow County Learning Center, a school for at-risk youth in North Carolina, Bartlett Certificate of Merit recipient Patrick Curley has integrated environmental education into every aspect of his teaching. 

In response to his students' diverse academic and social needs, Curley takes an innovative approach to his science instruction, often leading his students on "citizen science" expeditions into the 66-acres of longleaf pine forest surrounding the school to monitor the local creek and record bird breeding activity.  Students have taken what they have learned in the classroom and created positive change in the community—including building a nature trail for the Isaac Walton League, propagating native plants for donation to the Coastal Federation, and building and maintaining an oyster shell recycling facility that will help to rejuvenate oyster populations. 

During the 2008-2009 school year, Mr. Curley served as a “teacher-coach” for the Onslow County School District, helping his fellow teachers to use the world around them as a framework for integrating the curriculum. Mr. Curley directed students and teachers to the many resources that are available through private and public agencies in order to support and enhance instruction of environmental issues.  Curley’s students, many of whom were once afraid of nature, now take the lead on teaching other students about the natural world, and many OCLC students who were once at-risk of academic failure and had a history of disruptive behavior have developed feelings of accomplishment in Curley’s classroom.  Students have performed well on state assessments, have fewer behavioral referrals, and in many cases have returned to a traditional school environment.   

Susan Vincent
Young Women's Leadership School, East Harlem, New York

Susan Vincent teaches high school science at The Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem in New York City, a public school serving inner-city students.

She entered the teaching profession late in life with a mission to instill in her students a passion for the environment through direct, problem-based, hands-on projects.  In 2005, Vincent forged a partnership with Columbia University researcher, Dr. Robert Newton, to create a wetlands research investigation at Piermont Marsh, one of four reference marshes in the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve System.  Students visit Piermont every summer to conduct research alongside field scientists.  Research isn’t limited to the city, however.  Vincent also takes students on annual trips to the Mississippi Delta to work with a wetlands ecologist. 

Vincent’s enthusiasm often prompts students to pursue scientific projects on their own.  For the past several years she has mentored groups of students through the Young Science Achievers Program, which provides grants for researching scientific and environmental problems.  This year over 100 students conducted their own research on topics ranging from the ecological impacts of composting to the risks of ocean acidification.  Vincent's efforts give inner-city high school students the opportunity to stretch far beyond the limits of their asphalt and concrete environment and experience the rewards and challenges of hands-on wetlands investigation with research scientists.  As testament to her efforts, 100% of Vincent’s students are now either in college or are college-bound, and many of her former students are now studying environmental or marine science.