First KSTF Fellow to Serve in this Capacity
Moorestown, N.J., June 5, 2015 – The Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSTF) today announced the appointment of Heather Buskirk to its Board of Trustees. Buskirk, the first KSTF Fellow to be appointed to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, was appointed at the May 15, 2015 meeting of the Board.
“It is an absolute pleasure and joy to appoint one of our own to the Board,” stated C. Harry Knowles, KSTF Founder and Board of Trustees Chairman. “Heather works tirelessly to improve science education in her classroom, in New York state and in this nation; she is the epitome of what we want our Fellows to be. The Board is certain to benefit from the wealth of experience that she brings.”
Currently in her tenth year in the classroom, Buskirk teaches physics at Johnstown (NY) High School and serves as an instructional coach at HFM PTech, a new career-focused school in her area. Buskirk successfully completed the five-year KSTF Teaching Fellows Program in 2009 and is still actively involved with the Foundation. She is in the slightly more than 3% of teachers in the U.S. who have achieved National Board Certification, an advanced teaching credential governed by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. In 2010, Buskirk earned this distinction then went on to start a support group for KSTF Fellows seeking the same. In 2013, she co-facilitated a week-long workshop for KSTF Fellows on the Patterns Approach to teaching physics with KSTF Senior Fellow and Patterns Approach developer Bradford Hill. As a member of the KSTF Engineering Task Force, she and nearly 20 other KSTF Senior Fellows are exploring how to integrate engineering into mathematics and science courses, as spelled out by the requirements found in the Next Generation Science Standards. Buskirk holds a Bachelor of Arts in astronomy-physics and a Master of Arts in secondary science teaching from the University of Virginia.
“I’m thrilled to serve on the board of the organization that launched my career in the classroom and beyond,” said KSTF Senior Fellow Heather Buskirk. “As a Trustee, I hope to be able to represent many aspects of the teaching profession while remaining true to the classroom teachers at the heart of our work.”
Buskirk is co-founder of The Learning Project—a half-day, STEM-focused school in upstate New York. Additionally, she served on the NBPTS standards revision and design committees and the planning committee for HFM PTECH. Buskirk presented at the National Conference of the National Science Teachers Association (2014 and 2015) and the National Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers (2013). She was named a New York State Master Teacher in 2014. The New York State Master Teacher Program identifies, rewards and supports master teachers throughout New York State.
