Bishop - Local math teacher counted among nation’s top educators

Proving that the little things are not always overlooked, a local woman has been nominated for a presidential award in teaching.
Susan Marie Kunze, a second grade teacher at Elm Street Elementary School in Bishop, has been nominated for the 2008-09 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
Kunze is one of only two teachers in California to be chosen for the prestigious award that will be presented at a gala dinner at the White House in May 2009. The award, founded in 1983 by the White House and sponsored by the National Science Foundation, includes a $10,000 grant/prize.
Even though Kunze has officially only been nominated, she is the sole teacher in the state to be chosen in the mathematics category, and as such is a shoe-in for the award.
“It’s pretty cool,” said the veteran instructor of 31 years, 24 of which she spent teaching at Elm Street.

Susan Marie Kunze, second grade teacher at Elm Street School in Bishop, is seen here helping students with some math games. Kunze was recently picked as a finalist for a Presidential Award for excellence in mathematical instruction. Photo by Mike Bodine

“I’m overwhelmed by the whole thing,” Kunze said Tuesday. “It’s the people I work with and their encouragement that make this all possible.”
Kunze explained that the nomination and application process has been long and tedious, over a year in the making, but hopes the award will be an entree for the school and district to be noticed for future accolades.
All applicants for the award must complete an extensive written application, more than 30 pages long according to Kunze, and submit a 30-minute video of a classroom lesson.
She said the written part of the application explains a specific mathematical concept that is taught to, and, should be understood by students. Hopefully, these are comprehensions that the children can use in the for seeable future.
For Kunze, the concept was place-value of numbers, or the idea that the value of numbers used in the Arabic numerical system is based on placement, not purely the value of the symbol as in Roman numerals. This concept of place-value allows the 10 numbers, 0-9, to represent an infinite number of values.
In the video portion of the application, Kunze applies her concepts to the classroom showing evidence the kids are comprehending what she is teaching.
The video supplies that “Ah ha! moment,” Kunze explained. That magic moment when the light bulb goes off over the students’ heads and “they get it.”
Kunze said her nomination is really an accomplishment for this rural area. “We don’t have the same kind of tech support that an applicant from a bigger district might have access to. I had to learn to splice video together myself with the help of some great high schoolers.”
But, her ideas and hard work “outweighed the technological inferiority,” and she was nominated regardless.
Kunze was nominated by her former teaching assistant, Lynn Samuels, who now teaches one of the dual-immersion, Spanish/English third grade classes at Pine Street School.
Kunze has a multiple-subject degree and teaches all subjects in her second grade classroom. However, this particular award is for her math instruction, specifically. Kunze said she was impressed to be nominated for this award because she majored in History and Spanish in college.
Kunze said she also had an early love for music. Eventually she began to see patterns that connected music with foreign language and math. This led her farther down the path of mathematics that evolved into the advanced techniques she uses today.
Kunze added that Elm and Pine Street schools have been excelling in math in the last six years. She explained that there are many different math-related programs offered to students and parents, such as in February when parents are offered the chance to learn math games they can play with their kids.
Kunze said that her students knew she was getting an award of some kind, but were not sure exactly what it was. According to Kunze, when one of her students found out she was getting a math award, the student said, “You’re an awesome math teacher.”