At the time of the award, fifth-grade teacher Lynn McCain has turned her classroom into a standards-based, hands-on science lab at J. E. Turner Elementary School in Wilmer. In this lab, students build ecosystems out of two-liter soft drink bottles, classify objects using egg crates, test acids and bases with litmus paper, and track and plot hurricanes. Ms. McCain also incorporates technology into her teaching, using everything from word processors and PowerPoint to SMART Boards and LCD projectors. As an extended day teacher, she provides extra support for struggling students, and tutors middle school students twice a week in math at no charge. Ms. McCain is the grade-level team leader, serves on several school and district committees, and is a district presenter for staff development workshops in science. Ninety percent of the school's fifth graders scored at levels three or four on the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test (ARMT), and more than 85 percent of Ms. McCain's students scored at or above proficiency on criterion-referenced tests (CRT). This is one educator who excels at the art of teaching science. In June of 2015, Ms. McCain retired her role as an elementary educator. She has relocated to Hagerstown, MD.
