The BioScience Educator of the year is our very own Amanda Fitzgerald. For many of you she is your counselor and for many of you she’s just a familiar face. No matter how you know her you should be proud of her accomplishments with our PTech students. 

Did you have to apply for it?

“I did not apply. We met with a representative from the institute (the vice president) biweekly to update our efforts with PTech and she nominated me and I won. I had no idea that this award was even available until I received an email saying I would be named educator of the year at their 17th Annual Conference!” Says Fitzgerald 

What did it take to get this award? 

In the words of the BioScience institution: “Thank you for your contributions to the life science ecosystem and your continued support of the P-TECH program! Your support of and encouragement to the students enrolled in the P-TECH, especially in such uncertain times, has been greatly appreciated! You are such a positive influence on the P-TECH program and the students you reach, and we know the work you do for this program is positively influencing the lives of these students and the future workforce for our industry, THANK YOU!” She won because of her amazing work with the PTech students here at Frederick high school 

Can you explain your work with the PTech students?

“I work with them by providing general counseling support like all of my students, but in addition to this I develop and facilitate social emotional lessons around stress management, time management, organization and motivation/resiliency. I’ve also started a PTech Parent/Guardian Schoology group in order to help build the community and share resources with families. We’ve also offered PTech parent workshops to help with managing stress as a family and tips on being a successful online learner. I am continually talking with teachers about students’ progress and coming up with individual plans for success. The PTech program is a very rigorous program, so offering the students whatever support I can is essential!” Ms. Fitzgerald has worked very hard with the PTech students in order to win this award as you can see in her explanation on what she does to help the program. 

Make sure if you see Ms. Fitzgerald in the hallway to say congratulations on her big award. We thank her for her work with PTech and her work in the counseling office.