Newport Resident Receives Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence

Amgen honored teacher Anthony Borgueta of Barrington Middle School School as one of four recipients of the 2011 Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence (AASTE) in Rhode Island. Borgueta is a resident of Newport.

Mr. Borgueta, a seventh- and eighth-grade teacher at Barrington Middle School, is among 34 recipients of the 2011 Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence in locations where Amgen has operating sites: California, Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Washington and Canada.

The other Rhode Island winners were: 
• Shannon Donovan, Scituate High School, North Scituate 
• Mary Frances Hanover, Providence Country Day School, East Providence 
• Joanne Kearns, Reservoir Avenue Elementary School, Providence

The award recipients were formally honored at an awards ceremony and dinner on May 19, 2011 at the Providence Biltmore Hotel. Tony Pankau, Amgen Vice President, Rhode Island Operations, gave out the awards. David Abbott, Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel of the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, was also in attendance to congratulate and address the recipients.

The program was designed by biotechnology company Amgen to recognize and honor extraordinary science teachers at the K-12 level who significantly impact their students through exemplary science teaching and who achieve demonstrated results in student learning. Each teacher will receive an unrestricted $5,000 grant and their schools will receive a restricted $5,000 grant which can be used for the expansion or enhancement of a school science program, science resources, or the professional development of the school’s science teachers.

Nominations are solicited every fall with winners selected based on the following criteria: innovative science lesson plan showcasing novel teaching methods in the classroom, creativity and effectiveness of teaching methods and the plan for the use of grant money to improve science education resources in their schools. With a longstanding commitment to science education, Amgen established the awards program to promote and encourage science excellence in public and private schools. Since the program’s inception in 1992, Amgen has awarded over $3 million dollars to more than 200 educators and schools that have made exceptional contributions to the science-teaching field.