President Barack Obama recently named 213 mathematics and science teachers as recipients of the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Among those to win the award was Barrington Middle School science teacher Anthony Borgueta.

PARCC scores show marked improvement.

These awardees represent all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity schools. The educators will receive their awards at a ceremony in Washington, DC on Sept. 8.

The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is awarded to outstanding K-12 science and mathematics teachers from across the country. The winners are selected by a panel of distinguished scientists, mathematicians, and educators following an initial selection process at the state level. 

Winners of this Presidential honor receive a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation to be used at their discretion, and are invited to Washington, DC, for an awards ceremony, as well educational and celebratory events, and visits with members of the administration.

"The recipients of this award are integral to ensuring our students are equipped with critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are vital to our Nation’s success,” President Obama said. “As the United States continues to lead the way in the innovation that is shaping our future, these excellent teachers are preparing students from all corners of the country with the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills that help keep us on the cutting-edge.”

The President’s Educate to Innovate campaign, launched in Nov. 2009, has resulted in more than $1 billion in private investment for improving K-12 STEM education. Additionally, in 2011, the president set an ambitious goal to put 100,000 additional excellent STEM teachers in America’s classrooms by 2021. Thanks to the work of more than 280 organizations, 30,000 new STEM teachers have already been trained, and resources are in place to train an additional 70,000 STEM teachers by 2021.

The President has also called for increasing the proficiency of America’s existing STEM teachers with a Master Teacher Corps initiative, which would identify the most effective K-12 STEM teachers and support them in a program to propagate their best practices with their peers. 

The other Rhode Island teacher selected for the Presidential Award was Cumberland High School's Kristen Jahnz.