Dr. Patrycja Krakowiak, a life sciences instructor at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, is one of 10 national recipients of The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation Teacher Innovator Awards.
The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation provides unique educational experiences based on authentic objects, stories and lives from America’s traditions of ingenuity, resourcefulness and innovation. The Henry Ford’s Teacher Innovator Awards, co-sponsored by Raytheon Technologies, honors pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers who inspire their students to challenge the rules and take risks, who demonstrate how to be collaborative and empathetic, and teach the value of learning from staying curious and learning from failure.
Ten educators nationwide are selected for the Grand Prize. In previous years, the Grand Prize included a five-day “Innovation Immersion Experience” at the Henry Ford for the educators. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, this year’s trip has been canceled. In place of the trip, the organization is awarding each Grand Prize winner a $2,0 honorarium for educational supplies and a one-year premium subscription to The Henry Ford’s educational products and services as well as select merchandise from The Henry Ford.
The award shares a name with The Henry Ford Innovation Nation television show. The weekly Saturday morning show on CBS is hosted by Mo Rocca and showcases present-day change-makers from all over the world who are creating solutions to real needs.
Krakowiak said she was surprised when she received notice by email that she had been selected as one of the Grand Prize winners. She found out about the competition not very long before the application deadline. The application included videos of students speaking about their classroom experience and other testimonials about her classroom innovation.
“ I thought I did the best I could with the time I had, but I didn’t think it was as good of a job as I could have done if I had more time,” she said. “So when I opened that, I thought it was a mistake. So I was totally surprised. I was thinking this might be a practice run.”
Krakowiak said it’s disappointing that she won’t be able to do the trip because it would have been an opportunity to visit with and learn from fellow educators. Along with Dr. Whitney Holden, she teaches an Advanced Biology course in ASMSA’s STEM Pathways digital learning program. The course helps guide educators across Arkansas prepare students to take the Advanced Placement Biology course and test.
“The trip would have been fun, to meet other people and discussing ideas of how they innovate in their classrooms. I teach teachers so my mind is always open to new approaches and new ways,” she said.
However, she’s pleased that she will be able to purchase items for her classroom with the honorarium. She already has several ideas of possible items, including some low-tech virtual reality items, hands-on models such as a new skeleton or life-size DNA sets for classroom use, and other laboratory consumables and equipment that could be used by students in on-campus labs or at home if needed for remote instruction.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to choose different kinds of tools that I can use in the class and the lab to increase the novelty, the engagement and the excitement of my students,” she said.
Krakowiak said it’s important to try to have the most up-to-date equipment as possible, especially as the school’s Advanced Biology program grows. Krakowiak said there are 40 teachers currently enrolled to participate in the STEM Pathways program in the 2020-21 academic year. That translates into around 600 students around the state who will receive instruction from Krakowiak and Holden in addition to the residential program students. It motivates her to continue to improve her teaching skills, she said.
“That’s why I take it so seriously, and that’s why I have innovated as much as I have,” Krakowiak said. “I have always looked for things for my students, but now I have a new directive, a new mission. I try to make sure have the best possible, innovative technology for our teachers in Arkansas. It’s too easy to become a classroom teacher and become comfortable. But with 600 students and all of those teachers coming from so many different places, you have to differentiate your teaching, your approach and your innovation appropriately.”
To learn more about The Henry Ford, visit www.thehenryford.org.