Nichole Spencer, STEAM Coordinator for Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ÊÓƵ, was recognized this past week by the Arizona Capitol Times as a recipient.
Each year, the Arizona Capitol Times honors those that have taken on the most challenging issues, and, in that process, established their credentials through hard work and persistence. As an Honoree, Nichole will be formally recognized in a virtual awards night on November 24th. She will also be profiled in a special edition of the Arizona Capitol Times.
Frank Marfai, STEAM colleague and Math Faculty at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ÊÓƵ had this to say about Nichole: "I have been honored to work with Nichole Spencer as a colleague supporting the STEAM ecosystem. Her leadership in STEAM initiatives, her teaching in the STEAM field of Physics, her promoting of work-based experiences for students in STEAM disciplines, her building partnerships in the valley, and her work to support diversity and inclusion for underrepresented students in the STEAM fields are valued, appreciated, and noticed. She is a rock star, and we are privileged to have her at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ÊÓƵ."
More about Nichole’s role and impact at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ÊÓƵ:
Nichole has taught science and mathematics for 8 years at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ÊÓƵ, a Title-I school in downtown Phoenix, and was recently recognized as the top-ten 2018 Arizona Teachers of the Year for her commitment to excellence in teaching. Nichole has since transitioned to a position with Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ÊÓƵ as the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) Coordinator, in which her primary work is to support students and faculty in the STEAM disciplines.
She has influenced students like Brenton Chase, a Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ÊÓƵ alum whom she helped get into a NASA Psyche-Inspired internship program, and Gabriela Hernandez, a current Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ÊÓƵ student, whom she guided and supported with the STEM-CURE grant to leverage and develop skills for future work-based experiences.
In addition, Nichole represented Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ÊÓƵ at the 2019 Project Kaleidoscope STEM Leadership Institute, a program dedicated to re-structuring institution systems to bring about social change in STEM and diversify the STEM workforce. She currently serves as personnel for the STEM-CURE grant funded by the NSF (1832543), assisting in the development of course-based undergraduate research experiences and managing the STEM-CURE student mentors. Further, Nichole serves on the Executive Board of STEMteachersPHX, a nationally-affiliated nonprofit organization dedicated to providing quality professional development opportunities for teachers in the fields of STEM.
We are more than proud to have Nichole be a part of the Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ÊÓƵ family and are happy for her recent nomination of the 2020 Breakdown Breakout award. Please show her your support and send a congratulations to her for all the hard work she continues to do at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ÊÓƵ.